Two Heartbeats on One Page

Chapter 14

Darcey had thought the next few days would be a little easier now that he knew exactly where he and Jordan stood, but it was even worse than the second-guessing and worrying and wondering. Finally, on Tuesday, he called Brett to ask for advice.

"Well," Brett said, "I have one more class that starts in about five minutes. Do you want to meet me somewhere in about an hour or so?"

"Wherever," Darcey said. "Mom doesn't need the car today, so I can borrow it."

"How about the student union at my school, then?" Brett asked. "That's about halfway from home for both of us."

"All right."

The student union was loud and bustling with midday foot traffic. All but two of the tables were claimed, so Darcey grabbed one of the last in the far north corner. He'd wait until Brett got there to hold onto it before he got something from the coffee bar.

Darcey had been so distracted with thoughts of Jordan and second guessing about whether he'd done the right thing and maybe even regrets, so he hadn't had the head to bring a book in case he got there early. But it was only ten minutes. He'd just play with his phone and people watch until then.

The time passed slowly, but eventually Darcey spotted Brett coming in the side door and waved him over. Brett waved back, adjusting his backpack over his shoulder. He dropped it to the floor as he sat down.

"So, what's going on?" Brett asked. "You were pretty vague on the phone."

"Do you remember Jordan?"

"Iffy's friend, yeah. The guy you went home with. Whatever ended up happening with that? You've been pretty tight-lipped."

Darcey sighed and dropped his head to the table, weaving his fingers behind his neck.

"That's not good," Brett whispered.

Darcey shook his head. He inhaled deeply and sat back up, and started to explain from the beginning.

He told Brett about the first week and how perfect it was, how the friends-with-benefits thing with someone he connected with ended up being exactly what he needed. He told Brett about the night of the flashback and the conversation they'd had. Then the week with hardly any contact. Then, the breakup, or whatever it was, over the weekend.

"Are you still friends?" Brett asked.

"I think so," Darcey said. "We haven't talked much since then. Just a text every now and then about stupid, unimportant things. We haven't seen each other."

Brett bit his lip thoughtfully. "You know... you're taking this pretty hard considering your relationship. Are you sure that's all you were? It wasn't going somewhere more serious?"

Darcey lifted his hands, dropped them back to the table. He'd thought it, he'd known it, but he'd never said it aloud.

"Yeah," he said. "I think it was."

"Do you want to try again?"

"I don't know," Darcey said. "I don't know if I can manage that."

"Fair enough," Brett said. He paused. Darcey was shifting in his seat, tapping his fingers against the table, glancing about at all the people around them. So Brett said, "Let's go get some coffee and find somewhere quieter to talk about this."

AnarchyForSale: Iffy. Iffy please be online. Iffy I need to talk to you.

AnarchyForSale: Darcey broke up with me. I think. Can you break up with a friend with benefits?