The apartment had never felt so quiet. Ryan was nearing his third hour of lazing on the couch when the boredom became too much. He had the character select screen for his favorite game open, endlessly playing the same song as he ignored the controller on the table.
Asking Dani to play would be weird. We didn’t even go home from the party together. Honestly, she probably doesn’t want to speak to me.
The Halloween party was three days prior. Since they had split at the basement stairs, Dani hadn’t said a word to him. In fact, she had been avoiding eye contact entirely. And with Simon being mopey the past month, their apartment became void of any conversation. A few sentences when cooking, or a stray “hey” here and there when someone got home from work was the most social it got.
I need to say something to her. I can’t stand all this silence.
Ryan shut off the TV and started to plan. He knew he had messed up at the party. The issue was apologizing and explaining what happened without making things worse. If he told Dani that he was still struggling with his new world views, she might think he hadn't changed at all. If he mentioned that he wasn’t fully comfortable being seen as a couple with her, it would tank her self-esteem. And if he lied to buy himself more time to grow and change…
The sound of a door opening came from the hall. Ryan sat up straight, prepared to fix things. He was always taught to be honest, but the people who taught him also filled him with the hate that caused all the problems he was facing.
Maybe I don’t have to lie. Dani might get it. She’s good at those weird, hard conversations. I’ll be honest about–
Simon walked into the living room. As had become the norm, he gave a small wave, didn’t look Ryan in the eye, and beelined to the kitchen.
Not who I wanted to see. Though, fixing him might be a good warmup.
“Hey,” Ryan said as he stood up and followed Simon. “Wanna do anything this weekend? See a movie or… Anything?”
His lanky roommate looked stunned. Had things really been weird for that long? Not even a month ago, they were all playing cards and laughing. The breakup with Rachel must’ve been having a bigger toll on him than Ryan expected.
“What movie?” Simon asked. His head was in the fridge but it was progress.
“Could be anything!” Ryan said. “I haven’t paid attention to what’s out but we could just go and pick whatever looks good, like we used to in high school.”
Simon pulled an orange can of soda out of the fridge and turned around, finally making eye contact with Ryan for the first time in days.
“I guess,” he said as he cracked open the can. “Though wasting a night on a bad movie was more fun before we had jobs and responsibilities. But I guess it’s fine once in a while.”
“Sure! Right.” Ryan wasn’t sure where to go from there. It had all gone much better than he expected. “I just wanted to cheer you up a bit. You’ve been pretty mopey ever since…”
Simon grumbled and started to walk back to their room. Ryan stepped in front of him.
“Sorry, I meant that I miss us hanging out,” Ryan said. “The whole apartment has been so sad lately.”
With a sigh, Simon’s expression softened. “Yeah, you’re right,” he said. “A movie would be great. I really need to get out of this rut.”
Simon smiled for a fraction of a second before going back to their room.
That… Actually went great!
***
Half an hour later, the next door opening Ryan heard was Dani. He was back on the couch eating a sandwich when she walked past the couch.
Again, no eye contact.
It’s hard to believe any of us ever got along in the first place, Ryan thought. They act like we’re complete strangers.
Dani was in her work uniform. Her hair was tied into a ponytail and she wore a cap with The Mug’s logo on the front. She also had an apron bunched up in her hands that she would put on when she got there. Ryan always found the whole ensemble to be quite cute.
I should tell her that!
He stood up to once more follow a roommate to the kitchen.
Except I need to apologize first. Right.
“Hey, uhh, Dani?” He said.
She was filling up her reusable bottle in the sink. “What?” She didn’t look happy.
Ryan had no clue if she was annoyed at him, the fact she was heading to a late shift, or the fact the water pressure was weaker that day and her bottle was taking ages to fill up. He decided to be cautious.
“So, did you enjoy the party?” He asked, then immediately regretted it.
Fuck, was that literally the worst way to bring it up? Would I ask someone if they had a good time at a funeral?
To his surprise, Dani sighed then looked content. “Yeah,” she said. “I ended up having a good time. Sorry I stormed away from you.”
Okay, what? How did she end up doing the apologizing?
“No, don’t worry,” Ryan said. “I actually wanted to apologize. I was acting weird and…”
He wanted to tell her that he liked her. That even though he wasn’t sure what was going on in his head, he wanted to fix it for her.
Of course, those very same things in his head wouldn’t allow that.
His dad kept trying to talk in his head. Telling him how delusional he was being. Demanding that he never talk to Dani again. The more he tried to quiet the voice, the more impact it had on him.
“I guess,” Dani interrupted. “But I shouldn’t have expected you to babysit me the whole night.” Her tone was still ripe with indignation.
“No, I really wanted to hang out with you at the party!” Ryan felt he was losing her. The second her bottle was full she would walk out the door and they would be locked in silence again. “It wasn’t right to leave you alone, it must have sucked.”
Dani’s stern expression wavered. “Well, I’ll accept your apology. But if it makes you feel better, I ended up finding some cool people to talk to! Well, one cool person.”
That didn’t make Ryan feel better.
Did some asshole swoop in and start flirting with her after I fucked up? What was I thinking, so many guys at those things are total sleeze–
“Don’t tell Simon,” Dani said in a softer voice. “But I sorta made friends with Rachel. We might even hang out together soon.”
“Oh, that’s cool,” Ryan said. He wasn’t sure if Simon would like the idea of that, but he was just glad Dani didn’t find another guy.
The spurt of jealousy worried him. Were his feelings for Dani getting too strong? He liked her and wanted to try dating her at the very least. But now he was getting upset by pursuers he made up in his head.
I need to rip this band-aid off.
Dani turned off the water and screwed the lid on her bottle.
“Hey,” he said. “What if we went on a date?”
The bottle almost slipped out of Dani’s hands. “What?” She asked as she scrambled to not let her water hit the floor.
“Dani, I like you and I was serious about wanting to spend time with you at the party.” Ryan tried to rush out everything he wanted to say before the voice of his father came back. “Tomorrow morning. Let’s go somewhere together. I don’t know where yet…”
“Okay!” Dani said with a huge smile. She had gotten a firm hold on her bottle again. “You really mean it? A date date?”
“Yes,” Ryan said. Seeing how happy she was gave him a smile too. “I’ll figure out the specifics before you get back from work. I really am sorry for what happened at the party, I think it’s just–”
“Don’t worry!” Dani said as she headed toward the door. Her words didn't even attempt to hide her excitement. “I get it, I was too clingy around your cool friends. It won’t happen again! Text me once you decide, okay? But I’m about to be late for work and I don’t want to get in trouble with my boss again!”
She vanished out the door before Ryan could process what just happened. What he just made happen.
I guess we don’t need to have any tough conversations! Wow, two for two, what a great day.
Announcement Read the next four chapters instantly, as well as other upcoming stories, over on my Patreon~
The apartment had never felt so quiet. Ryan was nearing his third hour of lazing on the couch when the boredom became too much. He had the character select screen for his favorite game open, endlessly playing the same song as he ignored the controller on the table.
Asking Dani to play would be weird. We didn’t even go home from the party together. Honestly, she probably doesn’t want to speak to me.
The Halloween party was three days prior. Since they had split at the basement stairs, Dani hadn’t said a word to him. In fact, she had been avoiding eye contact entirely. And with Simon being mopey the past month, their apartment became void of any conversation. A few sentences when cooking, or a stray “hey” here and there when someone got home from work was the most social it got.
I need to say something to her. I can’t stand all this silence.
Ryan shut off the TV and started to plan. He knew he had messed up at the party. The issue was apologizing and explaining what happened without making things worse. If he told Dani that he was still struggling with his new world views, she might think he hadn't changed at all. If he mentioned that he wasn’t fully comfortable being seen as a couple with her, it would tank her self-esteem. And if he lied to buy himself more time to grow and change…
The sound of a door opening came from the hall. Ryan sat up straight, prepared to fix things. He was always taught to be honest, but the people who taught him also filled him with the hate that caused all the problems he was facing.
Maybe I don’t have to lie. Dani might get it. She’s good at those weird, hard conversations. I’ll be honest about–
Simon walked into the living room. As had become the norm, he gave a small wave, didn’t look Ryan in the eye, and beelined to the kitchen.
Not who I wanted to see. Though, fixing him might be a good warmup.
“Hey,” Ryan said as he stood up and followed Simon. “Wanna do anything this weekend? See a movie or… Anything?”
His lanky roommate looked stunned. Had things really been weird for that long? Not even a month ago, they were all playing cards and laughing. The breakup with Rachel must’ve been having a bigger toll on him than Ryan expected.
“What movie?” Simon asked. His head was in the fridge but it was progress.
“Could be anything!” Ryan said. “I haven’t paid attention to what’s out but we could just go and pick whatever looks good, like we used to in high school.”
Simon pulled an orange can of soda out of the fridge and turned around, finally making eye contact with Ryan for the first time in days.
“I guess,” he said as he cracked open the can. “Though wasting a night on a bad movie was more fun before we had jobs and responsibilities. But I guess it’s fine once in a while.”
“Sure! Right.” Ryan wasn’t sure where to go from there. It had all gone much better than he expected. “I just wanted to cheer you up a bit. You’ve been pretty mopey ever since…”
Simon grumbled and started to walk back to their room. Ryan stepped in front of him.
“Sorry, I meant that I miss us hanging out,” Ryan said. “The whole apartment has been so sad lately.”
With a sigh, Simon’s expression softened. “Yeah, you’re right,” he said. “A movie would be great. I really need to get out of this rut.”
Simon smiled for a fraction of a second before going back to their room.
That… Actually went great!
***
Half an hour later, the next door opening Ryan heard was Dani. He was back on the couch eating a sandwich when she walked past the couch.
Again, no eye contact.
It’s hard to believe any of us ever got along in the first place, Ryan thought. They act like we’re complete strangers.
Dani was in her work uniform. Her hair was tied into a ponytail and she wore a cap with The Mug’s logo on the front. She also had an apron bunched up in her hands that she would put on when she got there. Ryan always found the whole ensemble to be quite cute.
I should tell her that!
He stood up to once more follow a roommate to the kitchen.
Except I need to apologize first. Right.
“Hey, uhh, Dani?” He said.
She was filling up her reusable bottle in the sink. “What?” She didn’t look happy.
Ryan had no clue if she was annoyed at him, the fact she was heading to a late shift, or the fact the water pressure was weaker that day and her bottle was taking ages to fill up. He decided to be cautious.
“So, did you enjoy the party?” He asked, then immediately regretted it.
Fuck, was that literally the worst way to bring it up? Would I ask someone if they had a good time at a funeral?
To his surprise, Dani sighed then looked content. “Yeah,” she said. “I ended up having a good time. Sorry I stormed away from you.”
Okay, what? How did she end up doing the apologizing?
“No, don’t worry,” Ryan said. “I actually wanted to apologize. I was acting weird and…”
He wanted to tell her that he liked her. That even though he wasn’t sure what was going on in his head, he wanted to fix it for her.
Of course, those very same things in his head wouldn’t allow that.
His dad kept trying to talk in his head. Telling him how delusional he was being. Demanding that he never talk to Dani again. The more he tried to quiet the voice, the more impact it had on him.
“I guess,” Dani interrupted. “But I shouldn’t have expected you to babysit me the whole night.” Her tone was still ripe with indignation.
“No, I really wanted to hang out with you at the party!” Ryan felt he was losing her. The second her bottle was full she would walk out the door and they would be locked in silence again. “It wasn’t right to leave you alone, it must have sucked.”
Dani’s stern expression wavered. “Well, I’ll accept your apology. But if it makes you feel better, I ended up finding some cool people to talk to! Well, one cool person.”
That didn’t make Ryan feel better.
Did some asshole swoop in and start flirting with her after I fucked up? What was I thinking, so many guys at those things are total sleeze–
“Don’t tell Simon,” Dani said in a softer voice. “But I sorta made friends with Rachel. We might even hang out together soon.”
“Oh, that’s cool,” Ryan said. He wasn’t sure if Simon would like the idea of that, but he was just glad Dani didn’t find another guy.
The spurt of jealousy worried him. Were his feelings for Dani getting too strong? He liked her and wanted to try dating her at the very least. But now he was getting upset by pursuers he made up in his head.
I need to rip this band-aid off.
Dani turned off the water and screwed the lid on her bottle.
“Hey,” he said. “What if we went on a date?”
The bottle almost slipped out of Dani’s hands. “What?” She asked as she scrambled to not let her water hit the floor.
“Dani, I like you and I was serious about wanting to spend time with you at the party.” Ryan tried to rush out everything he wanted to say before the voice of his father came back. “Tomorrow morning. Let’s go somewhere together. I don’t know where yet…”
“Okay!” Dani said with a huge smile. She had gotten a firm hold on her bottle again. “You really mean it? A date date?”
“Yes,” Ryan said. Seeing how happy she was gave him a smile too. “I’ll figure out the specifics before you get back from work. I really am sorry for what happened at the party, I think it’s just–”
“Don’t worry!” Dani said as she headed toward the door. Her words didn't even attempt to hide her excitement. “I get it, I was too clingy around your cool friends. It won’t happen again! Text me once you decide, okay? But I’m about to be late for work and I don’t want to get in trouble with my boss again!”
She vanished out the door before Ryan could process what just happened. What he just made happen.
I guess we don’t need to have any tough conversations! Wow, two for two, what a great day.
Announcement Read the next four chapters instantly, as well as other upcoming stories, over on my Patreon~