wrong one//g.d

t w e n t y

"Any sales?" he shrugged and then shook his head. Had you upset him with your reaction to the flowers? "Well, that sucks."

"No big deal-- we needed these regardless." You nodded and reached for an apple before he set it in the fruit basket. He dropped into your palm and you rinsed it under the sink, pulling the little sticker barcode off. "You're not gonna be hungry for dinner if you eat that," he said, putting the empty grocery bags in the cupboard. You stared at it.

"Oh, I guess you're right."

"What-- uh, do you want, by the way?" he asked. You looked up. "For dinner?"

"You're making dinner?" He nodded. "Oh, I can make something-- you made dinner yesterday."

"I don't mind-- I like cooking." You stared and he nodded. "So, what'll it be?"

"Mashed potatoes?" He nodded, checking the pantry. "Do you-- we have everything for it?"

"I think so, yeah," he said with a small smile. "You can go work or something, shower? I can call you when it's ready." You smiled.

"I'll do some work- I've got some posters to design." He nodded and you headed up to grab your laptop. You brought it back down, balancing it as he stood at the counter, pulling out ingredients.

"Oh, hi," he mumbled as you sat up on the counter, laptop in your, well, lap.

"Thought I'd work here."

"Are you sure you don't want a desk or something?" he asked. "It's probably so bad for your back for you to sit on your bed." You smiled, logging in. You shook your head as you sighed.

"It's okay, Gray, I pref--"

"Are you sure? It probably hurts." You looked up as he pulled out the cutting board. He looked up for a second, shrugging.

"Why do you want me to get a desk so bad?" you asked with a little smile. He shrugged again.

"I mean, I don't know, I thought I could, like, build o--" You laughed and a little smile found his face. "--ne for you," he finished.

"That's why?" He shrugged some more. "Awh, Gray-- if you wanna build one, then go ahead."

"But if you're not gonna use it then it'll be a waste, you know?" You smiled. "But yeah."

"I mean, if you make it for me, I'll use it," you said honestly. "It's just not a necessity."

"So you'll use it?" he asked. You nodded.

"Of course," you said with a smile. His widened and you shook your head, checking your email. You sighed, staring and he looked over.

"Everything okay?"

"A zoom meeting thing next week," you mumbled. "I hate those."

He turned to get the boiling potatoes off of the stove. "Why do they suck so much?" You shrugged.

"They're just, firstly, way too early in the morning." He chuckled as he strained the vegetable and left it in the sink to steam. "And also I look like crap then, so when we have to turn our stupid cameras on I look dumb." He looked over.

"No you don't, don't say that," he said with a smile. You rolled your eyes. "You don't look--"

"Whatever, Gray." He sighed, still trying. "It's okay, we'll see how this goes."

"I'm so glad they let you keep your job despite you moving across the country." You nodded. "Now you won't be bored without me all day." You looked up.

"What do you mean?" He'd already been stirring the potatoes now, the mush coming together. He looked over.

"While I go to work and stuff?" You nodded slowly. "I work at wakeheart-- remember? I own the building?" He chuckled a little to himself.

"Yeah, yeah, I know that part," you said, reality hitting you.

Of course he actually went there now regularly, he and E post on YouTube rarely. And besides podcasts, he wasn't completely self employed anymore. He had a job-- a company to run.

"You ready to eat?" he asked. You nodded and he pointed down at the dining table. "You wanna set it and stuff?" You shrugged.

"We can just eat here; it's not a big deal." He chuckled, mood clearly lifted as he scooped a bowl of the mashed potatoes for you. "Thank you," you mumbled, taking the bowl from him.

"You're welcome." He got his own bowl and you only took a bite when he was resting against the counter opposite to you, ready to eat as well.

You pulled a face unintentionally and Gray's fell immediately. "Oh--" you started staring at your spoon.

"What?" he asked standing straight. "Is everything okay?" You nodded quickly.

"Oh yeah, it's just-- it's just a little saltier than I normally make it is all." You didn't want to hurt his feelings. But you could tell it was too late for that as he took his own bite, also finding it quite salty.

"Oh." He frowned, realizing he hasn't tasted it at all while making it, too caught up in conversation with you.

"It's still really good," you said, eating it. "Thank y--"

"You don't have to eat it if you dont want to," he mumbled, clearly upset and discouraged. You dropped off of the counter. He put his bowl down. "You can have your apple."

"Oh, Gray, come back--" You watched him head up the stairs.

"I'll do the dishes later, don't worry about them."