"It's been a week. I should be leaving tomorrow or the day after," Devin said.
I nodded. "Will you come to Jesse's gig?"
"Sure, I'm intrigued by this rock star boyfriend. Surprisingly, Tom and I hit it oft quite well, too bad you two weren't really dating."
I rolled my eyes. "You can still be friends with him."
"I am. We sat together at lunch the other day, I like him."
I raised my eyebrows, "Okay, but don't start thinking about replacing me so soon."
He grinned. "Aw, are you jealous?"
I let my face go blank. "No."
He laughed. "Don't worry, nothing can ruin our years and years of friendship."
My heart squeezed as I tried not to appear as stricken as I felt.
We were at the Chinese restaurant. The same one we were in when we had our first 'double date'. I had my usual plate of stir fried noodles and a small cup of herbal tea, also a bowl of dumplings which I shared with Devin, who was devouring his food in between conversations.
Usually, I'd be just as excited to finish my mouth watering dish but after what Devin said I felt my appetite drop from a hundred precent to negative one.
Devin stuffed a piece of diced chicken in his mouth and pointed at the few remaining pieces of dumpling. "Are you gonna eat that?"
I shook my head. "You can have it. I feel a bit full."
He shrugged before grabbing the bowl. "I'm so hungry."
"I can see that."
He grinned.
I picked up my cup of tea and took a few small sips, it seemed to be the only thing that appealed to me.
I sighed as the warm liquid traveled down my throat, spreading warmth throughout my body. "It's freezing."
"The heater's right there," Devin said, pointing at the heater that was just out of arm's reach.
I frowned. It's just my nerves, I reasoned.
"What time should I be at the café?" Devin asked.
"Around six or seven, I'm not sure but I'll be there a few minutes earlier just because."
He chuckled."Typical."
"I have a couple hours of lessons with Jake after this."
"Ah," he said.
I sighed. "What now?"
He held his arms up in defense. "I didn't say anything."
"You want to."
He released a slow agonizing breath. "I just think breaking up with him-"
"We didn't break up," I argued, "We were never together in the first place."
"Whatever, you know what I mean. I just think it was stupid. Do you know how rare it is to find someone who really cares about you?"
"I was leading him on."
"But you didn't even try," he stressed. "It's almost like...you don't care."
I frowned. "I do. I care about him a lot."
"Then I don't understand why you can't just be with him!"
"Because I don't like him like that!"
His eyebrows shot up. "Then how do you like him?"
"As a friend," I sighed.
He shook his head. "Whatever."
Deciding to change the subject at last, I asked, "How are your parents?"
"Anxious. They just want me to come home."
"That's natural."
"I don't want to leave. What if I leave and I don't come back?"
I blinked. "What do you mean?"
He fidgeted slightly in his seat. "My parents can be convincing, you know that already. What if they manage to convince me to stay home? Whet if Ian breaks up with me because of that?"
I sipped at my tea gently as I tried to think of something to say.
"If you really like Ian, and if you really want to stay here, then no matter what your parents say you won't change your mind. Besides, even if you do, I'm pretty sure Ian likes you enough that he'd accept your choice. "
He smiled a little. "You're right, thank you, Nate."
I shrugged. "Sure."
His lips tugged in an even wider grin.
After we paid the billing (splitting it in half since we both didn't want the other to pay) we made our way to the exit where Devin almost landed my butt on the floor when he attacked me in a chest crushing hug.
"I. Can't. Breath." I wheezed as his arms tightened their hold.
He finally loosened his grip and apologized with a lope sided smile on his face. "Sorry, it's just been a while since we hugged."
"You hugged me as soon as we walked in," I pointed out.
"Technicalities," he brushed me off.
I rolled my eyes. "See you at the café."
"Bye!" he yelled and wandered off toward Ian's car.
I walked to my own car and got in, driving quickly towards the apartment since I was already late and hadn't even told Rob about taking the dog out for a walk since I would be too busy.
When I got to the apartment, I knocked on Rob's door and waited.
The hallway was empty as usual, no trace of anyone behind the shiny wooden doors, all looking untouched despite their actual state.
The door in front of me unlocked, and I glanced up to see a strikingly beautiful woman before me.
She was just a few hairs taller than me, with long slender legs hidden beneath dark skinny jeans. Her dark hair hung smoothly over her shoulder, barely over her hips, a neat split down the middle of her scalp. Her eyes were large, bordered with long curled lashes, a perfect combination with her naturally tan skin.
"Hi," I said, but it came out more as a question than a form of greeting.
"You are Nate?" she asked, a hint of Hispanic accent in her voice.
"Yes?"
She held her gaze for a second before she disappeared behind the door.
I stared at the door blankly, the situation not sinking in for a few seconds.
Before I could do anything about it, the door opened and Rob stood with a grin on his face, crinkles by the corners of his eyes. "Hello, Nate!"
"Hey, Rob, I was going to ask you to walk the dog but..."
"I could keep him in the apartment with me if you'd like?"
I hesitated, "Are you sure?"
"Adrianna loves dogs," he explained.
I nodded, "If you don't mind..."
"Not at all...Where is he?" Rob glanced around.
"Oh, he's still in my apartment, I'll get him now."
"I'll come with you," he said, and before I could tell him that it was okay, I could get the dog myself, he closed the apartment door behind him and looked at me expectedly.
"Right," I mumbled, and jammed my apartment key in the lock.
The dog barked, immediately bounding over towards me. I bent down, scratching the fur at the back of his ear as a smile slowly stretched over my lips.
"Nate, I tried what you said, about being myself around Adrianna," Rob said.
I looked up at him, "It seems like it worked."
He shrugged, "A little."
I frowned.
"We still..." he paused, "You know. But she's willing to stay afterwards. And it wasn't just a one time thing. I think if I manage to keep her around for a while longer she might want to stay for good."
I smiled. "That's great, Rob. She's really pretty."
He smiled dreamily, "I know...Wouldn't you turn straight for her?"
I looked away awkwardly, "Sure."
He sighed, still smiling. "Now don't go crushing on her."
I rolled my eyes. "That's not possible."
He shrugged, brushing me off to bend down and pick up the dog. "I'll see you later then"
"Aha," I said.
Rob grinned one more time before leaving, shutting the door behind him.
Taking my phone out of my pocket, I glanced at the time and frowned. Jake was almost ten minutes late. He always came right on time and I felt a flood of fear rush through me before I hurriedly dialed his number.
The phone rang on and when I almost gave up, my phone stopped ringing and I heard movement behind the other end. "Jake?"
"Hey."
I swallowed. "You're late."
"Yeah, uh, I don't think I can make it today."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah. No. Not really."
"Is it a fever or something?" I asked.
"I wish."
"Jake tell me what's wrong," I said.
"I can't."
"Are you hungover? 'Cause this wouldn't be the first time and-"
"No, I'm not hungover," he said. "I'm just feeling down, okay?"
I licked my lips nervously. "Okay."
"I'll see you tomorrow. Just practice a bit on your own," he said, and continued giving me some instructions before we said goodbye and the line went dead.
I huffed, dragging myself over to the couch where I fell against it and let my eyelids fall.
~
I jumped out of my slumber with a start, almost falling off the couch.
Dazed, it took me a moment to realize what initiated my waking up. My phone lay a few arm stretches away, blaring out the built in ringtone.
I groaned, picking it up just as it stopped ringing. I had five miscalls from Tom, and several texts, all demanding to know where I was, what I was doing, and why I wasn't at the café yet. Checking the time, I realized it was thirty minutes after the time I'd agreed to meet Tom and Jesse, leaving thirty minutes until Jesse and his band were due to preform.
I swiped at my phone and managed to get a hold on Tom.
"Hey, I'm gonna be late," I mumbled, still rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.
"No shit! You scared me, I thought something happened to you," he said, the words rushing out of his mouth.
"I'm sorry, I might get there before Jesse gets on."
"You have no choice but to do that."
"Yeah, yeah," I drawled, standing up to stretch my body a couple of times.
"Just go get dressed already, it shouldn't take you long. Did you remind the others to come too?"
"I think Rob's busy," I said, thinking back to Adrianna. "Jake's not feeling well, he even missed class. But so far Dev and Ian are still on board."
"Okay, we'll talk about this later-"
"You're the one who asked!" I said, making my way towards the bathroom.
He mumbled a string of incoherent words, muffled by the poor reception. "I'll hang up now so you can get ready."
"Oka-"
The line went dead and I shook my head at his panicked tone before rushing around the apartment to get dressed last minute. When I was finally done; after I took a quick shower, styled my hair, rummaged for wearable clothes and shoes, and sprayed on a bit of cologne, I jogged towards the elevator and towards the main entrance of the apartment building. I figured fast walking to the café would be a quicker and easier alternative as to climbing in my car, waiting for it to heat up, before driving towards the café where I'd have to struggle to find a parking space and all the boring stuff that came along with driving a car.
The cold wind slapped against my face, a mild gasp escaping my lips and I tried to maintain my teeth from chattering. I definitely underestimated the weather.
Shivering, I dug my hands into the pockets of my jacket, pushing my neck towards my chest for more heat. By the time I stood outside the café's door, my face already felt frozen like a brick, my cheeks and nose red as Snow White's poisoned apple.
I breathed into my hand one last time before pushing the door open and stepping into the café, the warmth ignited from the fireplace surrounding me in a comfortable embrace.
I spotted Tom instantly, and smiled when he caught my eye. He smiled back, waving at me to come over.
"Hi!"
I smiled. "Hey, where's Jesse?"
He waved his arm in a weird motion I couldn't depict. "Somewhere warming up, I think. You came earlier than I expected you to in thirty minutes."
I shrugged, "I rushed."
"Clearly," he eyed me down. "You forgot to wear a scarf, beanie, and gloves. Are those loafers?"
I glanced down at my shoes. "Oops?"
He shook his head but dropped the subject anyway. "I got you good seats."
"Thank you," I said, plopping down on one of the seats.
He just grinned and sat beside me.
I glanced around and saw a lot more people than I expected to see. Almost every table and chair was occupied, several employees were rushing around carrying all sorts of beverages and snacks since it was too late for lunch and too early for dinner.
"Hey, there's something I wanted to ask you," Tom said, dragging my attention back to him.
"Okay."
"Last night you mentioned playing the piano but you seemed a bit put off afterwards...why?"
I shook my head, "It's lame."
"It can't be that lame if it bothered you so much..."
I sighed, I was supposed to be trying to open up anyway. "A few years ago, I told my parents I wanted to play the piano and asked them if I could get someone to teach me. Of course, they didn't care as long as I stopped bothering them, so they agreed. I got a tutor, I start learning, and I was really enjoying it. I mean, it was literally all I would do, day and night. It didn't bother them since I lived in the attic while they lived like three floors below me and could barely hear anything. It was my only hobby. The only thing I had that they couldn't control. Or so I thought. One day, I climbed up the stairs to my room and it was gone. I thought someone just repositioned it or something. But it was gone. When I asked them why, they said I was being too closed off from children my age. I thought, at least they cared. Until I found out that one of my mother's fiends had a daughter who played too and they didn't want me to seem gay."
"That makes absolutley no sense!" Tom blurted, red rushing to the surface of his face.
"I know."
I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I shouldn't have pried."
"Whatever, I needed to get it off my chest anyway."
"Let me get you something to drink, okay?"
I nodded. "Camomile will be fine, thanks."
Tom got up to get my tea and I let my eyes scan the café once again. The door opened and I watched as Devin and Ian walked in hand in hand. Devin was standing on the tip of his toes, his tongue peaking out as his eyes went searching. Finally, he spotted me sitting by the front and waved at me with alacrity , his lips stretching out in a wide toothy grin.
I smiled back before swiveling around just as Tom arrived with my tea and sat beside me.
"Hey," Devin said breathlessly as he plopped down beside me while Ian sat facing him.
"Hi," I greeted them both.
"Have they been practicing all day?" Devin asked, directing the question to Tom.
"Pretty much," he said, and they launched into a full discussion on bands, music, and such.
They were so caught up in conversation, it felt awkward to interfere, so I turned my attention to Ian instead.
"How's everything?" I asked lamely.
He shrugged, "Okay, I guess."
I detected a hint of sadness and frowned, "You guess?"
He shrugged again, "Dev's leaving and I'll be left to my apartment alone. I'm, uh, not a big fan of being alone in a big amount of space."
"Oh," I mumbled. "If you ever..."
"Nah, I think I'll survive." He shot me one of his famous smirks and I rolled my eyes in his direction.
Before I could say anything else, the band climbed up the platform, made a brief introduction, before they began to preform.
Soon enough, I realized Tom was right, Jesse did look a lot more attractive when he preformed. The way the muscles on his face contracted in utter concentration as he sang with passion, occasionally striking a few strings on his (awesome looking) electric guitar.
It was the same look Jake got on his face when he taught. Concentration, dedication, passion, drawn beautifully across the canvas of his face. It certainly made him look more attractive, even if just a little.
I leaned over towards Tom, who held a proud grin on his face and bobbed his head along to the beat. "He's really, really, good."
"I know," he said.
I glanced at Tom for a while longer before looking away.
They reminded me of a time when I actually cared about having a good relationship that could last. Lately, it seemed like I didn't care. Like with Jake, where it was all just physical. What Tom and Jesse had was something I never thought was real, something straight out of a movie.
And it gave me hope despite how many times I've been disappointed before.
Heeey!
So I finally managed to come up with more stuff for this story, so I'm feeling extra inspired. Hopefully this means another update this week. We'll see. Fingers crossed!
Question: what should Nate name his dog? Should he even get a name?
I don't know if I'll use any of your suggestions, I'm just asking because I'm curious to hear all your ideas since I'm still not sure what to do about the dog xp