He Was a Friend

/1/ He's such a show-off. /

Louise caught the work-out water bottle her childhood friend Eric threw at her, and drank all of it. The amount was just enough to quench the thirst she felt after finishing the half-marathon at Condura Skyway.

He knows me all too well, she smirked while closing the bottle lid.

She heard a tapping sound twice, and looked at the direction where the sound came from. Eric just opened his bag, and was signaling her to throw back the bottle inside, which she just did. She can't help but notice the looks the women around them are giving to her childhood friend, which also drifts a little bit to her direction every now and then as glares, because she's obviously with him.

Sighing internally, she looked at her clueless friend. He is wearing a loose running tank top with arm holes almost half his torso, making his lean abs show up a bit. He had his usual man-bun and had sweat all over his body, which was reasonable considering he just finished the race after around two hours and ten minutes. Finishing a half-marathon race within two and a half hours which she did is already crazy good, but this guy had to finish a lot sooner than that.

Damn that show-off.

She stood up and picked up her drawstring bag and got her car keys inside. She looked beside her when she felt the familiar heavy feeling on her shoulder, which was just Eric's arms lazily taking a rest there as usual – a habit he has whenever they walk together. Sighing obviously now, she looked a foot above her to observe his face. She was already small enough being at 5' height, and this guy has to make her feel even smaller than that, because he's a towering 6' for God's sake – and he sticks to me like a goddamn glue.

Face? Hmm. He's probably handsome as they say, it's just that, I got so much used to it that it looks super normal to me now.

Even her friends kept telling her how hot he is, whenever they see him with her, although they also kept complaining to her because he was "as snob as he can possibly be". They're even doubting their friendship, which she brushed off for more than a thousand times by now.

I mean... he's just Eric. What more can he be?

"Food. Will we eat out, or we'll eat at your place?" he asked.

She snapped back to reality when she heard his voice, at the same time, looked at him with questioning eyes, when he suddenly took her car keys from her hands.

"I'll drive. Even though I finished the race a loooooot faster than you, you seem a loooooot more tired than me," he chuckled.

Her eyes rolled-up as his mocking laugh painfully breached her brain.