The Lift

24

Preston eagerly packed for her Colorado trip — both because it meant going home to see Becca, her roommate and one of her closest friends, and because it made the move to California even more real.

Becca was also looking forward to having Preston back, if only for a very brief time. She knew Preston had a solid group of friends in California and also knew Preston well enough to know there was a lot Preston wasn't telling her, particularly about "that David guy with the camera." Graham had been pretty tight-lipped as well, even though Becca begged him to give her some dirt.

David, on the other hand, did nothing to hide his disappointment that Preston would be gone for a short while (at least in front of her). David treated it like months, trying to get her to come hang out and stay up late every chance he could in the few days before she left. He even offered to take her to the airport for her very early Thursday flight.

"David, I will be gone for barely three fucking days. Please stop acting like you're never going to see me again," Preston said sternly. It was Wednesday night and they were in her hotel room, him lazing on the bed editing while she packed. "And there's no way you'll be able to stay awake while driving me to the airport, let alone driving back yourself."

"Yeah, but when you come back it's going to be a whole week of pretending you aren't here," David whined, completely ignoring her comments about him driving her because he knew she was right. "It will be like not seeing you for two weeks."

Preston rolled her eyes and kept packing, only somewhat listening to him. "Keep editing your vlog so we can go get dinner."

"How can you just not care that we won't see each other for two weeks?" David shut his laptop dramatically. Preston knew something was up now because he was supposed to be editing to upload that night; he never just put aside editing for nothing. "I just don't get it."

Preston stopped rummaging in a dresser drawer and whipped around while holding a couple shirts. She stared at him for a moment before speaking.

"Why do you keep saying two weeks?" Preston asked, gesturing at him with one of the shirts, finally letting what he'd been saying sink in. David could be whiny — she'd learned that very quickly — but usually it didn't last quite this long.

"I asked my question first," David replied defiantly. She couldn't figure out why he wasn't going to let this go, and then suddenly it dawned on her: He was already missing her and she hadn't even left yet. Oh boy was this friendship forever getting out of hand...

"Wait, you think that when I come back on Sunday that I'm not going to see you again until Saturday," Preston stated.

David only nodded, looking at her in confusion because that's all he'd been saying.

"Dude, no. I'm pretending to be gone so we can prank everyone else. Why wouldn't I be seeing you during that time? I've got this hotel room for one more week and you'd better believe we're going to order some ridiculous room service while we still have the chance."

David looked down sheepishly, feeling a bit stupid for thinking she wouldn't want to see him. "So you'll still hang out with me next week?"

"Of course, David," Preston sat on the edge of the bed, putting her hand on his leg. "Why would you think otherwise?"

"I don't know," David said, refusing to make eye contact and looking only at her hand resting on his shin. And honestly he didn't really know why he felt the need to harp on this. Preston had become such a regular part of his life and not seeing her made him quite unhappy. But of course instead of just saying that or asking her about her plans, he had to make it complicated.

"I mean, yeah, I'm going to keep to myself so I don't ruin our plan," Preston said, trying to catch his eyes, "but I'd like that time to include you. We hardly ever get true uninterrupted time together." And she didn't know why exactly she phrased it like that, but she sure was glad that she'd be leaving for a few days. She needed to clear her head and gain some perspective on their whole relationship.

She continued carefully packing her clothes, focusing perhaps too much on how neatly they were rolled and folded. How many times would she go back and forth, both consciously and otherwise, about how she felt?

Most days Preston could convince herself that the safest solution was to simply exist as friends. Their relationship could survive in that in-between space. The oh so cliche "will they-won't they" from everybody else wasn't so bad. Because at the end of the day it still meant staying in David's life. Every now and then she still thought of moving away, mailing a letter to David confessing everything, and then never speaking to him again.

And then, on the rarest of occasions, usually when she was really tired and feeling particularly fond of David — like the was in that moment while packing — she would think about what life would be like if they both got their shit together and allowed their feelings to be known. Of course in that dream world, Preston's secret of already knowing who David was never materialized into anything.

As for David, most days he too convinced himself that staying "just friends" was the way to go. Eventually everyone would give up on trying to get them together and David could say "I told you so" and probably mean it. They'd get to a point where he could film with her and his viewers (at least most of them) wouldn't feel the need to question their relationship status.

Slightly less often he allowed himself to dream as well. He dreamt about holding Preston's hand in public, posting candid photos of her on Instagram with silly captions, going to dinner at new restaurants just because he knew she loved it even though he couldn't care less, surprising her with plane tickets on her birthday and their anniversary...

And as David opened his laptop to continue editing, he couldn't quite focus because he'd begun to let himself dream. Pretty quickly he caught himself though... Ever since his party, he just couldn't get a handle on his feelings, thinking over again and again every moment he spent with her that evening, however short the time was.