Confined ⇶ Uberhaxornova AU

[7]

"I was thinking maybe I should start playing something new. I don't want people getting bored with this."

"You could start doing more CS:GO or even GTA. "

"No Jordan, you fucking idiot. That's MY GAME."

"Aleks, you're so rude."

"And nobody asked you Kevin."

I sat at my desk doing nothing in particular as I spoke with Jordan, Aleks, and Kevin in Skype. We had just got done playing Gmod together and we were having what we called our 'wind-down hour' although we could speak for hours on end.

"So James," Aleks said. "You haven't mentioned Ever today. What's up?"

I looked at the time and saw that it was already a quarter past nine.
"It's already pretty late... I guess she's not coming over today," I said as I rested my chin in my hand.
"That's not like her..."

"Can't you ask her why she didn't come over?" Jordan asked.

"How would I do that? Besides going over to her house, which we all know won't be happening, I've got no way to contact her."

"You don't have her number?" Kevin questioned.

"Of course fucking not. I literally just decided that I was going to be her friend. Why would I have her number?"

"You don't have to be so rude..."

I sighed as I watched the time go by.

"What's this? Do you perhaps... miss her?" Aleks asked.

"No... I'm hungry..."
I groaned as I threw my head back. We all sat in silence for a few moments before I heard Ein crying downstairs.
"Hold on guys. I think Ein wants me to let her out."

"Alright. We'll be here," Jordan said.
I got up and headed downstairs where I saw Ein anxiously looking at the door.
"What is it Einieee?"
Oh god, I'm turning into Ever...

When I walked up to the door and was about open the door when I heard a voice coming from the other side. Confused, I immediately put my ear up to the door. It was Ever.

"Yes mommy, everything's fine. The restaurant is coming along smoothly. Should be another month or two but I would e never guessed it'd be so tiring..."
Sounds like she's on the phone. "Yeah, the dog is doing fine although he got into some things you sent me the other day... Me? I'm fine. Sleeping...? I've got no time to sleep. Too much to get done. I take a nap here and there. That's all I need."

As I listened to her talk, something occurred to me.
When she comes over here she always seems tired. There had been multiple times where she would stopped eating to have a head start on her nap. 'Naps are like gold for me James' is what she'd usually say with a goofy grin but listening to her conversation just now makes me think she's probably being completely serious.

I opened the door without really thinking about it, revealing Ever standing there with her phone in one hand and a bag of food in the other. When she realized what was happening, she quickly brought her other hand over her mouth.
"Oh mommy, I gotta go. I'm busy. Yeah, love ya."

With her face full of embarrassment, she smiled and waved.
"Hey James! I didn't feel like cooking so I brought McDonals. Sorry!"

She walked in without much of an invitation but I still let her in. After she took her shoes off, I looked at her, observing her face.
I can't tell if she's tired or not when all she does is smile...

"...What are you doing here?"
I asked.

"James, haven't we already been through this," she said whilst pouting.
When she noticed Ein waiting for her to pay her some attention, she bent down and started to let her.
"Hi Eineee," she said as she let her.

I kept eyes on her and sighed.
"Go home if you're tired."

"Tired...?"
She looked up at me with a confused expression on her face. After looking at me for a few seconds, her face fell as it seemed she realized what I was trying to say.
"I would've never imagined you were an eavesdropper," she jokingly said with a self-deprecating smile.
"But you don't have to worry about me James. I'm be fine. As you must've heard, I only need a good hour or two of sleep to be able to function."

"That's bullshit. No one can do that."

"I have for the past two months, haven't I?"
"Yes but I'm pretty sure you could do more efficient work when you're better rested and not bothering me."

"And I'm pretty sure that the work I'm doing already is efficient enough."

"And I'm pretty sure that's bullshit."

"What do you know, James?!"

After awhile of our little back and forward, Ever finally snapped. For the first time ever, I saw her looking genuinely mad. But for some reason, as watched her get upset, my face stayed in its same blank state... I was almost even calm as I looked at her.
Suddenly, she took in a deep breath.
"Is my coming over here really that bothering?"

"What...?"

"You're saying that because you don't want me here right...?"

You idiot, that's not what I'm trying to say...
I looked at her and released a breath.
"I never said that..."

"Then why are you saying those things."

I swallowed hard as I looked at her. There wasn't much I could do under awaiting gaze except turn my own eyes away.
"I-I..." I stammered as heat rose to my cheeks.

"You what James?"

I felt my hands go clammy and I tried to play off my embarrassment by rubbing the back oft neck.
"Look, I-I'm just trying to be a good friend, okay? Friends try to worry about each other so that's what I'm doing..."


She went quiet before speaking again.
"You were... worried about me?"

My eyes darted back to her and met her own.
"Yeah... I was... is there a problem with that?"

She blinked a few times seemingly completely lost by my work.
I didn't say anything weird, did I?

Then, out of the complete blue, Ever jumped up and wrapped her arms around me.
"Aw, James! You're so sweet!"

The random hug surprised and clusters me and I wasn't able to keep my balance as we both fell down.
"H-h-hey! Y-you're gonna fuck up my back even more!" I yelled, trying to hide how embarrassed I was.

Ever laughed as she sat up.
"I'm just so happy! Not only have you accepted me but you were worried about me. That's something to rejoice about James."

Her hands casually rested on my chest as she grinned at me and I wanted to say something about it but...
I... can't think straight...

For the first time in forever, my heart was racing... as I looked at Ever, my heart wouldn't rest. It was beating so fast and so hard that I was sure she could hear it as we say there in silence.

"It's only been two months but I feel close to you James... no matter how many times you curse me out or get mad at me, I always wanna come back. I guess your friendlier than I thought."
At the sight of Ever's childish grin, I took in a deep breath in hopes to regain my calm.

"G-get off of me. You already know I have a bad back," I groaned.

She laughed as she got off of me. She reached out her hand and I took it in my own and let Ever help me up.
"You're annoying..."

"I know, I know. Now, I think this McDonald's is calling our names."

-
A/N
Haha it's five in the morning and my head is killing me but thanks for reading ㅇㅈㅇ