Friends Don't, But We Do

3. You Aren't the Same

Dinner with Chris goes swimmingly. We're still only talking about surface level topics, how we grew up, our hobbies, families, things like that. But he's funny and sweet- opens doors and pays the bill. Not to mention that he's also really attractive. He's a few years older than me and a whole lot taller than me. He has some facial hair on his cheeks and chin, green eyes, and dark hair that's cut close to his head. Overall, he looks very clean cut and is someone my mother would certainly approve of- if I was looking for her approval.

I invite him back to my place and pour us both a glass of wine while we decide on a Netflix movie. It's going on midnight when I start moving closer to Chris on the couch. He puts his arm around me and we stay like that for the rest of the movie.

I haven't been on dates like this with a guy in a few months, but I like Chris, so I wanna take things further. Maybe we'll even start a relationship- I wouldn't be opposed to it.

"That movie was weird," Chris says once it ends. I laugh and agree, turning to look up at him. His smile is nice and looks so natural on his face. Like he's supposed to be happy. He looks down at me, his eyes staring at mine.

He leans in and I shut my eyes just before our lips meet. His hand on my cheek wills me to open up my mouth, and we start making out a little more heavily.

My phone starts vibrating on the coffee table, but I ignore it. Chris pulls me by my hips and onto his lap, so one of my legs is on each side of his body. "Who's Nolan?" He mumbles, moving his lips off me a bit. "What?" I ask, moving forward to kiss him again.

"He's blowing up your phone," Chris says, jerking his head toward the table where my phone sits. I turn around, and grab my phone. I have at least seven texts from him, all along the lines of, can you talk? Teagan, you there? C'mon please answer?

Due to the vagueness and alarm in the messages, I apologize to Chris, saying that he's my friend and I just have to call him for a second. Chris assures me it's no problem, and I head into the kitchen for some privacy. I hope Nolan's alright.

He answers after a few rings. "Nolan, what's the matter?"

"I just- can you hang out?" He sounds a little bit distressed, but not at all as alarmed as his texts.

"Nolan- what? I thought you were hurt or something, what the hell?" I can't believe he made me worry like that. "I'm sorry, I'm overreacting."

"Overreacting to what?"

"Uh... so I decided not to keep meeting up with Ty, but I'm really close to going over her place tonight I don't know what's wrong with me," he babbles.

"So you just wanna see me to distract you from fucking your ex girlfriend?" I don't mean to be so harsh with him, but if he's not in any sort of trouble, there's no reason for him to be interrupting my date. I told him I had a date tonight.

He pauses before answering, he's definitely caught off guard by how I reacted to his call. We rarely ever argue or get mad at each other. "I'm sorry- that's not why though, I just wanted to see if you weren't busy, I could come over or we could do something if you wanted," he blurts our nervously.

"Nolan, I told you I had a date tonight," I say.

"That's not over yet? It's like 1am," he says, then realizes that I'm probably about to sleep with said date. "Oh uh... I'm sorry I didn't think- I'll just talk to you later then?" He adds on, the awkwardness at an all time high.

"It's alright, uhm yeah. Goodnight, okay?"

"Y- yeah, okay. Bye," he hangs up and I bite my lip as I stare at my blank phone screen. I debate texting him to apologize for how I was short with him, but decide against it. He'll be okay and I can call him tomorrow.