How many people do you know? If you counted them, they wouldn't fit in your hand, so let's classify the considerable list of individuals, and reduce them. As I reframe the question for you; how many people are currently involved in your life??
To start easy, there's my parents, not actively in my life as of late, but I feel the need to add them. As they helped me financially at the beginning of my independent life.
There's my best friend from high school, Faye. She's kind to me, and helps me out in tough situations. We never argue, tho sometimes we have disagreements, we always overcome anything that stands in our way, together. Our relationship has been strengthened by time and trust in each other.
Lucas is a strange individual, but they have a kind heart. A person who values tradition and family but isn't afraid to try new things and change methods. Maybe "friends" would be an oversized word for our relationship since, well, we don't really talk outside from our interactions in the bazar. I don't even have their number, but he's a close acquaintance and he knows things about me not everyone knows.
Petra and Lydia, my boss and co-worker. Lydia and I are a bit alike, she's a college student, I just finished high school. She needs money to pay for her career, I need money to help myself survive while I choose a career; it's almost as if we were the same, only in different stages. She can come off as mean sometimes, but you'd be mistaken, she just makes herself be heard and respected, I admire that of her. She's very understanding with me, treats me almost like a little sister, giving me tips and covering for me when I arrive late to my shifts, she claims to understand how I feel, but that just makes me feel even shittier about arriving late.
Petra, however, is more complicated. I don't know much about her, only that she's the mother of 5 kids, her partner helps around but she claims it's not enough and at the end of the day she has to make the hard work. When she hired me I had walked around town for weeks, trying to find a job because my savings and allowance were running out. She wasn't fully convinced, but decided to give me a chance. I don't know her opinion about me tho, and honestly I prefer it that way.
In your opinion, those were the most relevant people in your life currently. They had clear faces and names, an established opinion of you and each their own goals.
There were people you had recently... and not so recently met but you couldn't quite consider them close or anything.
The first name that came to your mind was Doe, John Doe. He was such... A character.
There was also... What was his name?... Lucian, yeah, that was it. I met him at the party Faye took me to. He was sorta fun, daring and confident; I... still don't know his full name, phone number or if I can even trust him tho.
Maison Talo... Of course he gets to mark his name in the lips of people, he's such a weirdo in your eyes and a motherfucking menace, so much that you would rather not talk about the experience he made you go through when you first got here. You were sure you would never see him again tho.
I think the most relevant person I've recently met tho, is Doe. He's strange, and I can't even say if it's in the good or bad sense of the word.
Thinking back on it, whenever I look at him I feel like I'm forgetting something, like we've met eachother for longer and I just forgot about it.
He's nice but whenever I see him I feel uneasy and he gives me headaches, let alone the fact that sometimes I forget stuff and oddly enough he's the one to remind me, as If I was not actually there when I'm around him. And ever since I met him my mind has been jumping in time, there are long periods of time that are missing, I try to ignore them tho but... Well, it's not something you can just ignore easily.
And our introduction was a bizarre one, I met him...
You met him at the gas station
...at the station, and we usually don't talk outside from work.
He doesn't seem to know that I think he follows me to the subway...
You often find each other in the subway
...Since he and I use the same route to get to our houses, it's only natural we see each other in the subway. We take the same wagon but he gets down one station before mine.
He's very helpful
He has helped me in many occasions...
He's reliable
He's the type of person to go out of his way to lend me a hand...
You think he's cute
Maybe I can go to the extend of saying he's-
Well now, that would be too much I think.
As of now, John Doe was happily walking with the unconscious girl in his back, giving her a piggy ride as if she weighed nothing. It was a funny sight, since he looked so lanky and he still was carrying her like a sack of potatoes.
It was rewarding, for him at least. He could feel your slow, steady breath on his neck, and he was specifically focused on how your body heat felt against him.
As he kept walking, he could hear your soft muttering that left him wondering what were you dreaming about. Was it about him? He hoped he was in your dream just like you were in his every single day since he met you.
Right now he was walking an opposite direction from where he was originally headed to. He thought about taking you home, your home, but you weren't stupid, you would ask how did he know where you lived. It was funny to some extent, it was one of his favourite places, your apartment, because he could see a part of you in how you decorated it, however he had to keep it a secret because the last thing he wanted is for you to stop talking to him.
The second best place was his own house. Oh he was sure you'd love it... He'd just have to clean up a bit.
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-...oh where the fuck am I?...- was the first thing that came out of your mouth when you opened your eyes to see a white, stained ceiling. As you slowly started to become conscious, you started to feel your surroundings with your hands. You could feel cold ceramic under your palms, some slightly wet spots... Gross. You turned to look, you were currently in a bathtub, all damn lights were so lit you thought you were waking up in heaven, and there was a hoodie over you, quite big it fully covered your head and torso.
Your first thought after waking up in an unknown place, not remembering a shit and in a bathtub was to check if you still had your damn liver. You frantically removed the hoodie and lifted your clothes... Well it was still there so that's good.
You turned to look to the hoodie beside you, holding it in your hands... What where you doing here?? How did you even get here?... You smelled it, the hoodie, it smell humid and weird, enough to make you remember Doe. Last time you were too fucking drunk to even stand up you told him to take care of you, reliable.
Standing up, you went to look at the mirror, you looked absolutely horrid right now. Some bits of eyeliner had faded, your mascara looked like the biggest eyebags. Your lips were dry and the lipstick had faded, and you slowly unstuck a small strand of hair from your cheek, it looked greasy. Aside from your horrible breath and mouth taste from puking, your clothing was just plain nasty.
You would rather die than let anyone see you like this, let alone Doe who you saw at least 4 times a week. You turned on the faucet and washed your face as best as you could without soap, then you put some in your mouth to swill it out. You still didn't want to go out however, you would instead call someone to pick you up from... Here.. Where was here? Was this his house?... god you wish you could just stop existing.
Your phone wasn't in any of your pockets or anywhere around, had he taken it?? Either way you were now forced to actually go out, see what had happened.
As soon as you came out, the smell of preheated food instantly hit you. Usually it wasn't great nor bad, but right now whatever that was it smelled like panacea.
The place in front of you was odd, both in how it felt and how it looked. All the walls were a creamy colour, some of them looked stained, mildew stains. There was a small living room with a not so comfortable looking black couch and a lazy pod beside it. In front of it was a medium TV on top of a small table, and right under it was a console, the cables looked tangled. There were some records scattered on the floor, some from bands you recognized. There where al least 5 warm lamps in the walls, it was a well lit place but there was no place for natural light, since there were no windows. There was a microwave in the floor, you suppose that's where the food smell came from. Separated by a single wall, there was a bed with no base, only a headboard. It had a white bed sheet and there was a lot of stuff in the corner of it, almost as if doe had just pushed it aside in order to lay down. In front of it was a desk with a wooden chair in front and a small lamp on top of it.
Now the thing that caught your attention the most was that there were only two doors (without counting the bathroom one) both on different extremes facing eachother. One of those had to be the exit.
You approached the microwave, following the great smell of food but stopped just as you were about to open it, this wasn't even yours and you couldn't just eat his food. You turned to look at the lazy pod, it looked comfortable so you quickly approached to lay on it.
... It felt like you were laying on an angel's wing, so comfortable and soft you could live here. Beside it, was a socket with a charger plugged, it was charging your phone. You quickly grabbed it and turned it on... 100% charged, "you're an angel Doe, I owe you my life" you thought in an exaggerated manner.
As you were scrolling through your phone, you started to hear some banging that reverberated in the walls of the room. Could that be Doe? The banging stopped quickly, there where like two or three bangs and then full silence... Did someone fall? Quickly after you heard one of the doors open, the one on the right. Out of it came Doe, who looked unphazed at his surroundings, an expression that quickly changed as soon as he saw you sitting there, he looked like he had just found a pile of diamonds just laying there as he smiled wide and his eyes shone. -hey- you said smiling -(y/n)! You're awake!- -yeah it's was uhm, a surprise to wake up here... Where am I, Doe?- you calmly asked. -well you're in my house of course... You wanna eat?? I heard hot food is good for hangovers- as soon as he finished the sentence, he went over to the microwave. Well you did emptied your stomach yesterday, and you hadn't eaten in at least 20 hours so as soon as you heard "food" your stomach started to grumble; he smiled at this, oh how cute you were.
-oh, sure... Your house is...- you turned to look around, it wasn't horrible but the humid smell was still there, so, -...nice-. you hadn't even fully finished saying the last word when Doe spoke, -you like it?? I had to put you in the bathroom in order to clean up.- Oh so that's why you woke up in a bathtub, -Its nice, you shouldn't have worried tho I'm sure it wasn't that bad before- of course you didn't know, if you had seen how this place looked before you would've emptied your stomach a second time. But well, of course he wouldn't let you see just yet.
As you were texting Faye, asking her how she was seeing as she hadn't text you since yesterday, a text from that guy from yesterday popped in your screen.
"Hey (y/n), it's Lucian"
-huh- you instinctively said out loud. -what is it?- Doe asked, -oh, it's nothing- you said, turning off the phone and leaving it on the couch. You approached Doe, who seemed to be putting condiments on a plate on the floor, you sat down beside him. He was just finishing your meal, to your surprise it was your favourite microwaved food which made you extremely happy as you were starving. You didn't say anything, however, you just sat in silence while smiling at the food.
Doe knew just how much you loved this meal, he had seen you enjoy it before in your house and it seemed to be your go to food. For you it was a happy coincidence but for him it felt amazing to be able to prepare and personally give you one of your favourite things to eat.
And he wouldn't admit it, but his heart was beating like crazy. Sure, he saw you often at the gas station but you were behind a counter, and sure he saw you almost everyday at your house, but you weren't aware and he couldn't reach and touch you, but right now you were right here. He had been close to you before but the difference from now and those times was that right now you went and approached him. You weren't drunk, you didn't need to but you just went and sat right beside him and with a smile plastered on your face. You actively seeked to be phisically close to him and for him it felt amazing.
Without a word he slid the plate towards you and his smile grew wider.
Doe slid the plate towards you and you noticed as his smile grew even more. You carefully took the plate in your hands and placed it over your legs, then you turned to look at Doe... He was just looking back at you with the biggest smile, not moving or anything, -what's up?- he asked -Do you not like your food?- -Oh, no no! I love it, it's one of my favourite foods but, well, do you happen to have a fork or a spoon?- -No.- Oh... Well he didn't sound sorry for not having cutlery, he didn't try to make any excuses or explanations, he just smiled at you while delivering the news that you would, in fact, have to eat with your hands. -... Well, why don't we sit at the couach then? Wouldn't it be more comfortable?- you proposed. You didn't want to eat on the floor and barehanded to be honest.
He stood up fast, offering you a hand. Oh well, you grabbed the plate in one hand and gave him the other. You didn't know if he did it unconsciously, but he pulled your hand a bit too rough, to which you yelped but he still didn't say anything, instead he let go of you and stood there, waiting for you to sit first.
So you went and sat in the couch right beside your phone, you started to poke at your food, focusing entirely on it.
Just as Doe was about to grab your phone so he could sit beside you, it lit up with a message from Lucian:
"Are you still asleep? Hope you got home safely".
You didn't seem to notice or care about it for that matter, but as soon as he saw his message, Does heart dropped. That feeling you would get from when you get home and your parents say "come here, we need to talk", that pain in the chest that felt like a void, doe felt all of that just by looking at his message. He was jealous, angry at that man. Had you given him your phone? If not why was he talking to you?.
You beat him to the punch when you turned to look at his hand and saw the message on your phone, -oh- you said as you reached out for it with your non food covered hand, grabbing it just to look at it for a second, turning it off and placing it closer to you so Doe could sit down beside you, and he did.
You hadn't noticed, but his smile was faltering.
-I don't know how he got my number...- you said almost to yourself. This was enough to snap Doe back into reality and out of his overthinking mind. -you didn't give it to him?- he truly didn't want to ask, but it came out of his mouth like a blurt out of relief. -no... He must've asked someone else, but I don't know who would have my phone apart from Faye, and she would ask me first before sharing it with anyone... Maybe she was just drunk tho.-
Doe felt relieved, he almost sighed. Instead, he left the couch to crawl towards the TV in front of him. Once he turned it on, he crawled back towards the couch, but instead just sat down in the floor, laying his back on the lower part of the couch.
If you couldn't tell that TV was very old from how it looked, you could tell now from the sound of static you heard as soon as he turned it on. It wasn't that loud as fuck sound that scared the crap out of you when you were younger and turned the TV on to a channel that didn't have signal, instead it was that very light and subtle "beeeeep" you could hear if you got to close to the TV. The screen quickly changed to a game menu, and Doe approached a controller towards you, -want to play for a bit?-. Now, you had told yourself that as soon as you finished eating you would say thanks, and leave towards your house. You were filthy and hungover and you didn't need to cause him anymore troub- -YOU HAVE KIRBY?-.
You quickly put your plate beside, clean whatever food was left in your hands on your clothes and instantly slid from the couch to the floor, grabbing the controller at the same time. Of course playing a bit wouldn't hurt anyone.
Half an hour or so into the game, a question you had since the beginning came out of your lips, -Hey Doe? After I woke up I heard some banging coming from somewhere in the house. Was that you? It sounded a bit serious-, slowing down a bit but not taking his eyes off of the screen, doe spoke -oh you heard that... Yeah it was me, remember I was cleaning up the house, I was putting away some heavy stuff and accidentally dropped it.- well that made sense, at least he wasn't hurt. -so that door leads to a storage room or something? The one you came out of, I mean- doe's relaxed demeanor faltered a bit, and you did notice this time. -more like a very small storage space, theres tools and stuff I need to get rid of inside, so try to never go in there to prevent getting hurt-. You knew he meant the last part in a good manner, suggesting you don't go inside so that you don't possibly get hurt with the objects inside... however the phrase made you tense up a bit.
You were just overthinking, that's all.