she knew it was him the moment his car pulled into her driveway. she walked with him down her patio, hearing crickets chirping in the dark grass. a sharp noise made her jump, and when she swiveled around, he was running around the car. he opened the passenger door for her and her heart practically soared. she climbed in, murmuring, "what a gentleman," for only him to hear. his car smelled nice, like pine and citrus and sage. it was crisp, clean, and she ran her gingers across the leather smoothly. it was nice.
he started driving, nervously chewing his lip and tapping his fingers on his steering wheel. his playlist was hooked up to the aux, and when a familiar voice came on, she looked up at him.
"you like alec benjamin?"
for a second, she thought he looked at the phone screen in horror before plastering a sheepish look on his face. "i do. you?"
"not to be that person," she drawled, "but i was a fan long before he got big."
he scoffed, but was grinning nonetheless. "what's your favorite song?"
"water fountain was the first one i heard, so it's a classic. but i also like..." she began listing them off, rambling about his songs and how long she'd known them. clay—ice cream boy—was a newer fan, but together they bonded over their shared music taste. by the time they got to the restaurant, they were arguing about which album was better.
"i might have to cancel this date right here and now if you truly believe that narrated for you is better than these two windows," he said as he held the door open for her.
"good," she teased. "wouldn't want to know someone who mixed up outrunning karma with jesus in LA."
clay sauntered over to the hostess at the front, politely telling her they had a reservation while iris looked around. it wasn't high-class luxurious, but it also wasn't just a plan old olive garden. they were seated in a booth along-side the middle of the wall. the waitress set down menus, asked them if they wanted to start off with drinks, and walked away when they both ordered wine and waters. iris scanned the menu, eyes nearly bulging out of her skull when she saw the prices. of course she wanted the steak and wine — and of course she knew clay wouldn't have picked this place if he didn't expect money to be spent. but still....
as she looked at the numbers, her mind reeled with their first conversation.
she set her menu down so hard the wine glasses shook. "how did you know what answers to give?"
he blinked at her. "what?"
"the first time i texted you, i asked you for math answers, but somehow you know the right type of answers."
"oh." he drummed his fingers on the laminated menu. "i texted every possible variation of my phone number asking for your friend. one person replied, and your friend gave me the page number and the textbook, but they told me to send a picture of the work you already did, so i looked it up instead and just...guessed."
the food arrived. he graciously thanked the waitress, saying they didn't need anything else. when he turned to her, taking a bite of his food, he arched a brow at the look on her face.
she stared at him. he chewed his lip, a small smile tugging up the corners of his mouth. he cocked his head to the side. "what's wrong?"
"i just... i just can't believe— i can't believe you have actual braincells up there."
his jaw dropped in mock offense. "how cruel!"
"okay, okay, okay." she crossed one leg over the other. "so...classic question: what do you do?"
he wiped his face with a napkin. "i program and code for videogames."
"is that what you majored in?"
he hesitated, messing with his napkin. "i actually...i didn't go to college. i dropped out."
she paused, wine almost to her lips. clay didn't breathe, until she murmured, "jealous." he tilted his head. "so then, is coding your only job?"
he winced. "basically. i...rose to the job very quickly. it pays well, so, here i am."
she nodded. "do you like it?"
"i absolutely love it. it's where i met sap and george, to be honest. they're my best friends." he was smiling just thinking about it.
she leaned forward. "tell me about them."
his eyes lit up. "okay, so—i've known sap since i was a little teenager, but i met george a couple years ago. i honestly...i know i flipped out that one time, but i was just worried. you both mean a lot to me, so...i'm just glad you guys get along so well."
she swirled her wine around in her cup. "does sap know about the whole roommate situation?"
he nodded. "he's on board with it, but we have...some odd rules, if that makes sense. the contract is back at my house..." he trailed off, leaving the silent offer hanging. she sipped from her wine, refusing to acknowledge the way her heart quickened at the idea of going back to his house. he continued, "and if you don't like it, that's fine. it's just better to see it in person, you know? and you get to meet sap!"
she covered her face with her hands, embarrassed. "and face him after i called him hot, thinking he was you?"
clay shrugged. "you still called him hot."
she glared at him through the gaps in her fingers. "fuck off."
he only leaned back, smirking. "let me know when you want to head out." she looked down at her empty plate, cheeks flushing. she'd finished her glass of wine and cleaned her dish, having eaten every bite. he had a little bit of his steak and salad left, but didn't say anything.
"i'm ready when you are."
"perfect." they conversed quietly, waiting for the check. when it came, he quickly paid and they headed out, bickering over how he wouldn't at least let iris cover the tip. he'd countered, "iris, i invited you out to dinner, you're not paying for shit. suck it up, sweetheart."
the comeback with immediate. "well, if you say so."
he let out a startled laugh, opening the car door for her again, scoffing at her playful eye roll. once he was back in the driver's seat and starting the car back up again, he quietly said back, "if you're down—"
"shut up, clay."
"just saying."
"don't play the game if you don't wanna win," she said.
"there's no law saying we can't fuck on the first date."
she shrieked at the vulgarity, despite the way her head spun with excitement. "well when you say it like that—" he burst out laughing, saying something incomprehensible through his giggles while turning the car into his neighborhood.
he lived in a nice neighborhood, much nicer than her apartment complex all together. it looked much safer, too. like there wasn't regular drug deals going on next door. clay ending up parking in a two-story, cream-colored house, with a full lawn of grass and gravel decorating the front. he walked her up, swinging his car keys around his finger. he unlocked the front door, sending a wink over his shoulder before pushing it open. a rush of cool air flowed over her, and she took off her heels at the front.
"oh, don't worry about that," he said, but she took them off anyways. "well—home sweet home."
it was quaint, comfortable. it felt more like a home than her apartment ever did. clay began walking, iris trailing behind like a puppy, looking around at every little thing. it was clean, too, but definitely lived in.
he flicked on a light. "this is the kitchen—and the dining room behind it."
"it's so cute," she said warmly.
he chuckled. "so...there's that. obviously, over here is the living room. TV, fireplace, couch...my cats five-hundred-dollar playhouse that she never uses..." she stifled a laugh at that. he led her through the living room, the entryway foyer, and down the hallway. "sap's room is right here. here's the downstairs bathroom, coat closet, and a spare bedroom. you can look around but don't worry about making any final choices. here, let me show you upstairs." he led her back out, and upstairs.
"this is my room," he said, gesturing to a closed door. he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "i honestly trust you, even though we're still...technically strangers, but i'd prefer if you like...." didn't go inside, she gathered from where he trailed off.
"of course," she said softly. "i understand."
he offered a small smile, and continued down the hall. "these are two other spare bedrooms. my sister uses this one, though, but sometimes it depends on the day. the brat can't decide if she likes the sunlight first thing in the morning or not. so, feel free to pick whichever."
both of the rooms were comfortable. not too small, not too big. one had a nicer dresser than the other, though. iris smiled to herself when she noticed a spare backpack left in the corner of one of the rooms.
"this is the hall bathroom," clay continued. "we keep extra towels under here, but there's room for your stuff if you want to keep things in here. uh, i have one attached to my room and sap normally just claims the one downstairs."
"i see."
"there's a backyard where—" he cut off when iris shrieked, her heart leaping out of her chest. he immediately burst out laughing, having to lean against the wall, laughing like a tea kettle while iris tried to catch her breath.
"stop laughing!" she hissed, hand over her racing heart. "your cat fucking scared the shit out of me!"
"shhhhhh." he picked patches up, hugging her closer to him. "don't swear in front of the kitty."
"are you guys good?" sap asked incredulously, standing in the doorway to the hallway. he stared at both of them with wide eyes—at clay, who was still laughing, and iris, who was still trying to calm her heartbeat. "what the fuck happened? what did you do, clay?"
"why do you always assume that it was me who did something?" he retorted, offended. "patches scared iris."
sap looked even more dumbfounded. "how?"
"i kept, like... feeling her brush up against me but i never noticed she was there. and then she jumped up on the counter when we were leaving and—" she glared at the two boys who both broke into laughter. "you two are idiots."
sap snickered. "says the girl who screamed because of a cat."
she flipped him off and he stuck his tongue out. "soooooo," he dragged out, "how's the house so far, rye?"
"much nicer than i thought you two bums could land." she leaned against the wall, crossing her arms. sap's ears reddened, his eyes widening, and he looked at the wall next to her instead. "dude, you good?"
clay glanced over at her, at her arms, and back at sap with a tight smile. "don't be a pervert."
"what?" iris asked cluelessly.
"sweetheart," clay murmured, "maybe don't cross your arms like that."
she narrowed her eyes at him, letting her arms hang by her side. "as i was saying... it really is a nice house. what's the rent look like?" sap and clay exchanged glances.
"uhhh..."
sap furrowed his brows. "how much is the monthly rent?"
clay frowned, still carrying patches like a baby and petting her behind the ears. "what do you mean? i paid it off."
"no, for this house, dipshit. we're renting this house, not the other one."
"you have multiple houses?" iris blinked.
they didn't reply, instead bickering amongst themselves. "i'm not surprised you don't know," clay retorted. "you don't even help pay the rent."
iris's jaw dropped. "sap doesn't pay rent?"
again, no acknowledgement. sap increasingly got heated, "but why are we renting the house in the first place?"
"because until george gets his visa, we're living in this one, idiot."
"george is coming to america?"
both of the boys looked at her. at their eyes, she'd never felt more exposed than she was now. she made herself smaller, repeating, "george is coming to america?"
"it isn't decided yet," sap said slowly, glancing at clay carefully. "it'll probably be a few months or so by the looks of it. but there's a chance we might go to england next year." his voice made it seem like he was walking on eggshells. like they had just revealed something more important than it seemed.
"i can't wait to meet him then," she said, sensing the growing tension in the room.
suddenly, sap clapped his hands loudly, making patches startle and scratch her way out of clay's grasp. "welp! i'm going to sleep, fuckers. i expect there to be no cheeks clapping at two in the morning—" a quick glare at iris, "—otherwise i'll kick your asses."
"what the fuck?" clay laughed, adjusting the collar of his shirt. patches bolted between iris's legs and ran downstairs. sap pat clay on the back before following the cat.
"bye, iris. it was nice meeting you."
"it was nice meeting you too! we'll have to play more bedwars soon so i can become better than you."
he barked a laugh. "good luck, that's not happening."
she wrinkled her nose, waving goodbye once more before turning to clay, who was looking at her with soft eyes. "what?" she said. he shrugged.
"it's just nice," he replied quietly, tucking his hands in his pockets. iris furrowed her brows, not understanding.
"nice seeing me with your friend?"
he couldn't explain it—she knew he couldn't. but she ignored the feeling for now, adding, "i had an amazing time, clay. we'll have to do it again sometime. except, don't be afraid to choose a normal restaurant."
he cocked a brow, grinning crookedly. "you saying you didn't like drinking five hundred dollar wine? or a sixty dollar steak?"
she smirked. "i'm saying i loved it, but you already impressed the girl."
"iris, are you asking me out on a second date?" he laughed. "i'm sure rowan would love that idea."
rowan.
for a moment, she'd forgotten about him. she'd also forgotten that the only reason she was here with clay was because of rowan.
she nodded slowly, following clay as he made his way back downstairs. "to be fair, he had a point."
he looked over his shoulder, a strand of blond hair falling in his eyes. her eye twitched when he didn't brush it away. "that you two weren't technically dating?"
"yeah." she almost admitted that she hooked up with him, but decided that was something she should not share when on a date with someone else. "honestly, it was my fault. it doesn't change the fact that it still kinda hurt, but...what can you do."
clay led her outside to the car, where it was already dark out and she stared at him over the roof of the car. he looked back at her, the gentle wind slightly tousling his hair. "can i be honest?" he asked. she put a hand on the top of the car, nodding, not sure what to expect. but he said, "i think rowan is very lucky to have you. coming from me, i can say men are idiots, but i'm sure he'll realize how much he wants you, and...hopefully, he'll figure it out."
"wise words."
he scoffed, unlocking the car. "get in the car, iris," he said teasingly. she grinned, hopping inside, tugging her dress down her thighs. "buckle." she blinked, grabbing the seatbelt and buckling herself in. the car was a different one than they drove to the date, but it was just as comfortable. it didn't have the normal technology some cars did, so he had to put his arm around iris's seat and look behind him himself in order to back out safely. she bit her fingernail, trying to hide her smile and red cheeks.
this was, most likely, the happiest night of her life.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
ok i know this was so bad but i promised chapter by friday lol and.... it's friday!!
not to ~emotion dump~ but today was quite in fact literally the shittiest day and there's nothing like...... worth it to call it shitty. like i've just been building up this emotion and anger and anxiety and panic that POOF it exploded and now i feel even more like shit WOOOOOOO
OK OK OK OK OK ANYWAYS
UHHHHH FUN QUESTION
friends to lovers or enemies to lovers
enemies to lovers for me 😏😏😏