My Boyfriend Is A Geek ✔️

️38: You guys were so cute, it was pretty gross

Silence – at one time or another we’ve all experienced a shade of it. But right now, I was certain I was living through all shades of it.

Hence, imagine my relief at hearing my dad’s voice slice through. “Brianna, wow! How have you been?”

I almost gave in to the temptation to go all mom-style and declare: ‘hallelujah!’ 

Seriously though, I’d practically been slowly dying under the prolonged silence we’d lived through this past minute. Hence, with dad having broken it now, I couldn’t be more delighted.

Now though, I turned my attention to my mom, who for the record, seemed to flounder a little as she said, “well, I’ve been good. Just uh, doing stuff.”

“Good” dad answered. “I mean, it’s good that you’re…good.”

Ok, what was going on here? 

It didn’t help that mom was tittering slightly now. “Yeah. How about you though? How have you been?”

Dad gave a shrug in response, as though he no longer cared about how he was or something. “Good. Just the usual – work and stuff.”

“I guess some things never change,” she sallied. But despite the seeming lightness of her voice, there was an underlying…bitterness perhaps, to her words.

And I had a feeling it didn’t didn’t go unnoticed by dad given how his expression seemed to falter as he said, “I guess.” 

Plus, I definitely didn’t miss his sudden interest in staring at the stairs rather than her face. 

Although, a second later, he was returning his gaze to her, donning a small smile as he did. “Actually, I came to grab a few things for work.”

A look of genuine surprise crossed through mom’s face now. “Really? Who would have thought a day would come when Dave Allen would handle things like that himself?”

That earned a hearty laugh from him, which was soon echoed by mom. 

And me? I could only stare at dad, at the way his eyes crinkled more than a little at the sides, in that way they did when he was with her.

It’s been a long time since I've seen him laugh like that – not forced, not stressed, not awkward, just light and tingly to the ears.

For a moment, it was almost as though I was back to those times; those times when dad always laughed like that; those times when things were…simple.

But I knew times like those were over. And if I wasn’t sure of it before, dad’s next words made sure of it. 

“I guess some things do change.”

It wasn’t the words itself that got me staring awkwardly between them, but rather it was the shared look between them, expressing a silent addition of: ‘like us.’

Mom was the first to look away, blinking a little faster than usual as she did. But when she faced him again, her face was beaming with a bright smile – a little too bright actually. “I shouldn’t hold you up, Dave. I was just about leaving before you came in, so I'll head out now.”

He voiced a small: “oh.” 

I searched his face for any form of disappointment, sadness, just anything. But what else could I expect from him? His expression was devoid of any of those things when he said, “well, it was great to see you again, Brianna.”

“You too, Dave.”

And throwing her a small smile, he headed upstairs, albeit a bit faster than usual. It was almost as if he went six stairs a time, given how he was quick to disappear.