Like Gods

[8] a douche in angel clothing

Dylan could not sleep.  His heart was thumping loudly in his chest, and he didn't know why. He thrashed once, ending up facing his alarm clock and seeing that it was almost three in the morning. 

But, eventually, the sound of rain from outside combined with the slow breathing of the others in the room soothed his mind. Soon he drifted away from consciousness, into a restful sleep.

__

Waking up to sunlight was one of the best experiences that Dylan knew, and when he opened his eyes the morning after, the memories from last night were temporarily forgotten. That was until he felt something move on his right. He sat up, suddenly wide awake, and looked around the room. Felicia was laying with her back toward him, facing the wall, and when he looked to his left on the floor, there was nothing but an empty mattress.

The sight of the latter made his stomach drop a little, though he didn't really know why. Slowly, he rose from the bed, swinging his feet over the edge and leaving the warmth of his covers. 

"Are you awake?" He asked softly, starting to collect the sheets from Chris's bed.

"Yeah," Felicia whispered.

"Do you... wanna talk about it?" 

"Later." 

"Okay," Dylan hesitated a moment. In all of the years that he had known Felicia, she'd never been this gloomy. She was always the most energic person in the room, shining bright even on her bad days. This, however, was something different. "Do you want me to make some tea?" 

She didn't answer, only nodding her head slightly. Dylan mimicked the action, even though she couldn't see it. He left the room, throwing the sheets in the wash-basket before going downstairs and putting on the kettle. Soon after, Felicia came down the stairs as well, holding the fluffiest blanket that Dylan owned around her body.

"I could have come up with it," Dylan said but she shook her head.

"No, I gotta get up, gotta move some," she explained, walking past him and into the living room. 

The house was empty except for the two of them. Dylan had found a note on the dinner table saying that his mom and dad had gone to visit his grandparents and that they would pick up Riley when they came back.

"Blueberry or Earl Grey?" He called towards the living room, not waiting for an answer before making a cup of Earl Grey for her and Blueberry for himself. As he'd expected, Felicia called back a hoarse:

"Earl Grey." 

When the tea was finished, he grabbed the mugs and carried them with him to the living room, just like he'd done for Chris in the middle of the night. Felicia had sat herself down in the middle of the sofa, her knees folded up so that she could rest her chin on them. She barely noticed him entering, keeping her eyes locked on her phone.

"Do you... want to talk about it now?" Dylan asked cautiously after placing the mugs on the table and taken a seat in one of the armchairs. 

"I'd like that, yes," Felicia smiled softly at him, "...He cheated."

Dylan's jaw dropped, eyes widening in pure shock. "What-" He started, but Felicia held a hand up to stop him.

"I got a text when we were at Cole's party, that's why I wanted to go to him, to investigate. It just said 'Come over', so I reminded him that I was at a party to which he replied 'Oh, sorry, that was for Pete, see you XOXO' or something like that." She sighed heavily, lower lip trembling just a little. "I got this really, really weird feeling in my stomach as if I already knew, so I tried to push it away with alcohol. But then I decided that I was going to go over there." 

Dylan sat completely still, focusing on every word that his friend said. She continued:

"After you dropped me off I realized that I couldn't go over there as drunk as I was, so I took a walk around campus. I walked for about thirty minutes, but then it started to rain so I went to check his dorm..." A cough, or a sob, Dylan couldn't be sure, escaped her. "She was on top of him, naked when I opened the door. I left as soon as I saw it. I think he followed me out to the hall, and she was shouting at him when I left the building, but I don't..." She broke out crying, as silently as she could, but the tears still rolled down her cheeks.

Dylan moved to the sofa, wrapping his arms around her.

"Then Christopher came and picked me up. Did he stay over?"

"Yeah, I went full-mom-mode when I realized that he'd been driving drunk." 

"He didn't seem like you've described him."

Dylan thought quietly. He had to agree. He hadn't been like he usually was, and it left him feeling odd. Maybe he'd read the guy wrong.

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