"Madison was really nice," Felicia said, an almost solemn smile on her lips, "she told me that she hadn't known that he had a girlfriend and that she'd left him only a few minutes after I left."
Dylan sat on the other side of the café table, slowly stirring his latte with a spoon. The rain pattered lightly against the windowpane, but still, people hurried by in the downpour. Sure, most had umbrellas, but Dylan was sure that he would do anything to not have to walk in the rain.
The dim lights in the coffee shop gave the room a cozy atmosphere and the two of them had been sitting there for a good while now. Probably over an hour, Dylan thought as he turned his gaze back to his friend.
"She said that she was sorry, and then she asked if I wanted to meet again, and if I needed a ride home," Felicia continued.
"What did you answer?" Dylan asked, recognizing the pause from Felicia as a question if he was still listening, and by asking a question he showed that he had.
"I said 'sure'," she looked out the window for a few seconds, "to the meeting again part, but I told her that I had a ride already. She seemed sincere with everything, but then again, I thought Xander was, too. I'll see if there will be another meeting, but I suppose that getting a new friend from all this wouldn't be too bad."
"True," Dylan agreed after he'd taken a sip from his drink, "I think you should meet again, what's the worst that can happen?"
"Exactly."
A comfortable silence settled over the two of them. There weren't many other people at the small coffee place, but that was nothing new; It was smaller than most café's around town, and if you didn't know that it was there, there was a large chance that you would miss it from the outside. Still, he and Felicia had been going there for years, and they hadn't found a place with better coffee.
"Hey," Dylan downed the last of his coffee, "did I tell you that we are invited to Chris's post-Halloween party. A costume party."
"Oh my god! No, you didn't!" Felicia exclaimed, a wide grin spreading over her face. "Oh, I gotta pick a costume right away. Well, tonight maybe. Do you know what you're gonna be?"
"Eh, no," Dylan smiled at Felicia's excitement, "something basic, probably."
"I thought you would say that," his friend returned his smile, "I'm gonna find something for you, too, don't you worry."
"Why am I not surprised?" Dylan laughed. "Are we ready to go?"
Felicia looked at her phone for a second before swinging her bag over her shoulder and nodding. "Yeah."
Both of them grabbed their things and hurried through the rain over to Dylan's car. The first few minutes were quiet, the tapping of water droplets calming Dylan's mind.
"William's home." He said after a while. Felicia's eyes were on him in a split second, her jaw dropping to the floor.
"What? Seriously?" She sounded worried and he couldn't blame her, considering she knew more than most. "Do you want to crash at my place? Mom and dad wouldn't mind at all. Is he like he was? Where has he even been?"
Dylan made a motion with his hand, gesturing for her to calm down. "No, I- it's fine, I would have told you if it wasn't-"
"How long has he been there?" She questioned. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Felicia, it's fine, really," Dylan made an attempt to calm his friend, "he's... not like he was. I mean, he seems different, and I really hope that it's not all an act. He's been home for almost a week. And I meant to tell you, it just slipped my mind."
"' Slipped your mind'? How can that slip your mind? I know he's your brother and all, but if he's abusing you or threatening you, you have to go to the police. You're not kids anymore, he can't just-"
"No, seriously," he interrupted, sighing heavily, "we have had a talk, he's seeing a therapist and he seems to be better."
"It's not hard to be better than he was," Felicia huffed. "Where has he been? What was your parents' reaction?"
"He moved to Norway. Apparently he's studying in Oslo and has met a girl," Dylan explained, a calm expression on his face, "he's staying three more weeks before going back."
"...Okay," Felicia said after a moment of tense silence, "But if you need a place to stay, just tell me. You know that you have your own bedding at our house, too."
Dylan smiled. "Yeah, I know, and I really appreciate it, but I think it will be fine."
"Okay." His friend repeated.
The rest of the car ride was completely silent. Well, completely silent with the exception of the car radio after Felicia had connected her Spotify. Dylan stared at the phone for a moment, thinking back to what Landon had said about a BlueTooth radio.
"Do you think that I should upgrade my radio system?" He inquired after a while.
"What?" Felicia seemed to have been lost in thought, given by the slightly dazed expression on her face, "What do you mean upgrade?"
"Landon said that I should get a BlueTooth system."
At that, Felicia's face lit up. "Yes!" She all but yelled out. "I mean, that sounds like a great idea." She said, somewhat calmer. Dylan smiled.
"Good to know."
Soon after, Dylan dropped Felicia off by her house.
"Thanks for the ride," she said as she waved him off.
"Anytime, see you Friday," he replied before making a sharp turn and started the drive home.
__
Friday was slow. The day prior had been Halloween, and he and William had spent their entire night handing out candy to all of the trick-or-treaters. More than once, Riley and her crew of various ghouls had come to basically empty the candy bowl.
But that was, as previously mentioned, the night before and now it was Friday morning. Dylan lay in his bed, knowing full well that he should be doing something productive with his day before he was going over to Felicia's. She'd picked a costume for him, just like she'd said she would, but when he asked her what, she'd refused to say.
He sat up in his bed with a groan. It was a quarter to ten and both his parents were at work. William had knocked on his door at nine, wondering if he wanted breakfast, but he'd said no and told him that it was best if he didn't wake Riley either. She was usually up early every day, so when she was sleeping in, it was best to let her do it in peace.
He threw on a white tee and a pair of dark Adidas pants, got out of his room and went down the stairs.
"Hey," William was sitting at the kitchen table, a laptop in front of him and what seemed to be a cup of coffee beside it. Weird, Dylan thought, he'd never seen his brother drinking coffee before. "Do you wanna do something tonight?"
"I can't, I'm going to a party," Dylan replied, grabbing a glass of water before sitting down on the opposite side of the table. "What are you working on?"
"Well, my professors didn't really like that I was going on a month-long vacation, so I've gotten a few assignments to work on. This one is an essay about international relationships in Europe. Who's party are you going to?"
"A friend," Dylan dodged the question. "What do you even study?"
"Communication and journalism," William answered. "I'm going to become a journalist."
"A journalist?" Dylan frowned. "Don't you have to know the language for that?"
"I'm learning. Sonja is a really good teacher."
"Say something in Norweigan."
"Like what?"
"I don't know, what do you know how to say?" Dylan asked.
His brother thought for a while, before leaning back. "I can say 'jeg heter William og studerer ved Universitetet i Oslo.'"
"What does that mean?"
"My name's William and I study at the University of Oslo. Now you've got to tell me who's party you're going to. Maybe I know someone's brother."
Dylan sighed. "His name is Christopher Davis."
"How do you know him?" The response came as soon as Dylan had said the name and the seriousness in William's voice almost startled him.
"I tutor him in biology if you must know," Dylan frowned at the older. "What does that face mean?"
"Nothing, I just knew his brother." William had an unreadable expression plastered on his face, which made Dylan uncomfortable. "Be careful, alright?"
"What the hell, dude?" Dylan brows knitted together, "Calm down, it's just a party, stop treating me like I'm thirteen, you missed the chance at being the caring big brother." As soon as the words left his mouth, he could see the hurt in his brother's eyes.
"Yeah, I know," he mumbled. A tense silence loomed over the kitchen.
"I- uh, I didn't think you were the kind of person who would be able to get into any university, especially not the university of Oslo." Dylan coughed, trying to defuse the situation as best as he could.
William chuckled. "Believe it or not, but I actually didn't have that bad grades. I mean, they were probably not close to yours, but I didn't fail a single class. Also, some of my new friends made a study circle to help me pass the entry test."
"That's nice," Dylan smiled softly, only to turn his head around when he heard steps coming from the stairs.
"Good morning," Riley mumbled, her long hair messy from the night's sleep. "Do you know if we have waffles?" The question was aimed at Dylan, but William spoke first.
"Uh, yeah, I got some yesterday," he said, cowering under Riley's silent glare at him.
"Do you have any plans today?" Dylan asked, scared that his sister would do something irrational if he didn't intervene.
"I was thinking about going over to Nelly's, can you drive me?" She walked over the cupboard and opened it. After searching the shelves for a few moments, she grabbed the packet och waffles and closed the door.
"Sure," Dylan replied, "are you going to eat lunch there or..."
"Nah, I think I'll eat here and then go to her's at about two, is that fine?"
"Yeah," Dylan answered and shot a glance towards William, "yeah that's fine."
"Great," his sister replied as her waffles jumped up from the toaster. She placed the two pieces on a plate, then started to walk back toward the stairs.
"Aren't you going to eat with us?" Dylan asked carefully. Riley met his eyes with a cynical glare.
"... No, I think I'll eat in my room," she said slowly, then turned back and went up the stairs.
None of the brothers said a word. Dylan understood Riley's reaction completely, but as much he wanted to also avoid his brother, he'd decided that he would get one, one, chance.
After a few tense minutes, he stood from his seat and went to place the empty glass in the dishwasher.
"When are you leaving, then?" William asked from the table.
"I don't know, maybe at like six?"
"Okay," his brother tapped a little on the laptop, "be careful, don't get too wasted. Will you need a ride home?"
"No," Dylan replied as he leaned against the counter. "I don't drink." At that, William shot him a raised eyebrow.
"I know that teens drink, I won't snitch on you," he said, "God knows that I'm in no position to do that."
"I'm serious, William, I don't drink. Never have. The only person that I knew drank wasn't the best role model, so I never saw a point." Dylan sighed and massaged his temples, "I was actually very anti-alcohol for a good while."
There was a quiet minute before William uttered a barely auditable "Yeah."
///