If there was ever an award for the most forgettable movie, it would go to whatever just played in theater twelve. Simon agreed to go with Ryan to hang out and reignite the fun, carefree friendship they had in high school. Unfortunately, he chose a time where nothing good was playing. Every movie that seemed worth buying a ticket for was scheduled to come out two weeks later for the holiday season.
Simon didn’t even disagree with Ryan’s idea. They had hardly done anything as friends since moving in together. Summer parties were one thing, but they didn’t speak much at those. He didn’t even realize it until it was pointed out. Worrying about his friendship with Dani had led him to ignoring his other friendships.
That all culminated in him paying almost twenty dollars to watch a bland comedy for ninety five minutes. And despite it all, Simon enjoyed himself.
A bad movie meant an empty theater where they could make jokes about all the lame moments. It meant they got to have fun like they used to.
As they exited the theater and left the idle lobby chatter and smell of popcorn behind, Simon felt a little more hopeful about things.
“I’ll check the website next time we try this,” Ryan said.
He had already apologized for what he claimed was wasting Simon’s money. He even had to refuse repayment from him.
“Actually,” Simon said, “it’s kinda fun not knowing what we’re gonna get. And at least we got to talk over it the whole time.”
“That’s true.”
They made their way to the bus stop and joined a few other people on the bench. They were all either in their own conversations with each other or on the phone as the two sat down.
“Thanks for coming out for this,” Ryan said. “I wish we never let things get weird.”
Were things actually that weird? Between me and Dani, sure, but I thought Ryan and I were just focused on our own lives. Does he know that I confessed feelings for Dani?
Simon didn’t want to overreact to a small comment, yet it ate at him. “Yeah,” he said. “I had fun.”
His comment lingered in the air as the two waited for the bus. Words of strangers around them blew past without a single interesting thing to eavesdrop on. It left Simon alone with his thoughts.
I can’t get a hold on what our group’s dynamic is anymore. Everything was so simple and now it’s complete chaos. How could I have stopped it from happening?
While he retraced the events of the past few months, Ryan let out a sigh. “Have you been feeling better lately, then? There was a while there it seemed you were barely hanging on.”
“What do you mean?” Simon asked.
“Like, after you and Rachel… Ya know?” He stretched his feet out along the pavement.
Simon wondered if he would ever escape from the mistakes he made with Rachel. The look on his face must have shown his distress, because Ryan didn’t wait for an answer.
“We don’t have to talk about it,” he said while staring ahead. “If you’re doing better then what does it matter?”
“No,” Simon said. “We can talk about it.”
If I keep avoiding it then it will just keep coming back up. I’ve learned to stop bottling things up, right? How pathetic would it be to walk that back so soon?
“I am feeling better,” Simon started with. “I think it was less the breakup that bothered me and more how long I let everything go on for. It was sort of just cruel to both of us, even if she was pushy at the start.”
Ryan nodded along and hummed in agreement.
“Like, I have no clue what I thought would happen. It’s not as if the relationship would suddenly get better after dragging it along for months. And as mean as it sounds, I wasn’t able to care about her the way she wanted me to.”
“Huh,” Ryan said. “I didn’t realize so much was on your mind. And here I thought you were just a little awkward.”
“It’s probably weird to talk this much about my personal life at a bus stop,” Simon said. Nobody on the benches had changed what they were doing. “You’re right about me being awkward, though. Even if I did like someone, I’m just not sure how to handle a relationship like that. Always wanting to be social and out doing activities and having a packed schedule. Sounds exhausting.”
“Might have just been a bad match?” Ryan was in the middle of stretching his arms.
“Probably. And I was willing to let it keep going, but Dani said something to me and I realized I was being the bad guy.” Simon worried he had said too much. Still, he couldn’t deny it felt good to talk about.
We really do need to hang out more often. I forgot how easy venting to Ryan can be.
“What did she say?”
Ryan’s posture shifted. He turned more toward Simon and brought his legs closer. It seemed as if he was waiting for Simon to say something more. An intensity in his stare was building.
Simon regretted mentioning Dani. After spending time focusing on being okay with his two roommates dating, he still had a ways to go before he wanted to talk about it openly. And now he had not only mentioned her, but mentioned something she said right after he confessed to her. Would Ryan beat him up if he found out? Probably not. If anything he would laugh and it would be the nail in the coffin for their friendship. Was it inevitable that he would find out eventually?
“Hello?” Ryan asked. “Did you forget or just zone out?”
“Sorry,” Simon said. “She just said I was being weird around Rachel and that I should treat her better.” He was happy with the way he worded it to not incriminate him in anything.
“Ah, that makes sense,” Ryan’s intensity lessened. “Was that why you two seemed to be fighting? Like, not talking to each other? I’m so used to you guys doing everything together, it’s a pretty big change.”
Dani must not have told him about what happened. Ryan’s not the type of guy to try and trap me in a lie or anything. Though it’s weird he thinks I should hang out with her more if they’re going on dates. Does he think I don’t know about that?
Simon nodded and spoke, “Yeah. Pretty dumb reason but I felt embarrassed because she was right. I should thank her, maybe.”
“That would be good. I do agree that you sort of got trapped in the situation with Rachel but it’s just easier to say sorry and move on.”
“Eh,” Simon said with a shrug. “I could have done things differently so I’ll accept my share of the blame.”
Ryan got quiet.
“What about you?” Simon asked. “The apartment was silent for days after Halloween. I thought you and Dani were going on dates and stuff, what happened?”
For the first time Simon could recall, Ryan blushed. Not as much as Dani did sometimes, it was only a soft pink. Nonetheless, it was new to him.
“Oh, you know about that?” Ryan said with a nervous laugh. “Things are good, nothing bad happened. The party was a little… Nah, everything is fine. It’s fun. It’s good.”
Holy shit, am I even talking to Ryan? I didn’t know he could act so nervous, I assumed it was physically impossible for him.
“Did something happen at the party?” Simon asked.
Ryan took a deep breath and regained his composure. “Nothing crazy. Maybe awkward but everything ended up okay in the end. I think she ended up having a good time. Sorry, she said I shouldn’t mention certain things to you.”
As the bus pulled up to the stop and screeched to a halt, Simon wished he had stayed home. The blood in his face fled, leaving him pale and empty.
Oh my god, they had sex.
Announcement Read ahead by four chapters over on my Patreon! As well as two parts into my new sci-fi story~
If there was ever an award for the most forgettable movie, it would go to whatever just played in theater twelve. Simon agreed to go with Ryan to hang out and reignite the fun, carefree friendship they had in high school. Unfortunately, he chose a time where nothing good was playing. Every movie that seemed worth buying a ticket for was scheduled to come out two weeks later for the holiday season.
Simon didn’t even disagree with Ryan’s idea. They had hardly done anything as friends since moving in together. Summer parties were one thing, but they didn’t speak much at those. He didn’t even realize it until it was pointed out. Worrying about his friendship with Dani had led him to ignoring his other friendships.
That all culminated in him paying almost twenty dollars to watch a bland comedy for ninety five minutes. And despite it all, Simon enjoyed himself.
A bad movie meant an empty theater where they could make jokes about all the lame moments. It meant they got to have fun like they used to.
As they exited the theater and left the idle lobby chatter and smell of popcorn behind, Simon felt a little more hopeful about things.
“I’ll check the website next time we try this,” Ryan said.
He had already apologized for what he claimed was wasting Simon’s money. He even had to refuse repayment from him.
“Actually,” Simon said, “it’s kinda fun not knowing what we’re gonna get. And at least we got to talk over it the whole time.”
“That’s true.”
They made their way to the bus stop and joined a few other people on the bench. They were all either in their own conversations with each other or on the phone as the two sat down.
“Thanks for coming out for this,” Ryan said. “I wish we never let things get weird.”
Were things actually that weird? Between me and Dani, sure, but I thought Ryan and I were just focused on our own lives. Does he know that I confessed feelings for Dani?
Simon didn’t want to overreact to a small comment, yet it ate at him. “Yeah,” he said. “I had fun.”
His comment lingered in the air as the two waited for the bus. Words of strangers around them blew past without a single interesting thing to eavesdrop on. It left Simon alone with his thoughts.
I can’t get a hold on what our group’s dynamic is anymore. Everything was so simple and now it’s complete chaos. How could I have stopped it from happening?
While he retraced the events of the past few months, Ryan let out a sigh. “Have you been feeling better lately, then? There was a while there it seemed you were barely hanging on.”
“What do you mean?” Simon asked.
“Like, after you and Rachel… Ya know?” He stretched his feet out along the pavement.
Simon wondered if he would ever escape from the mistakes he made with Rachel. The look on his face must have shown his distress, because Ryan didn’t wait for an answer.
“We don’t have to talk about it,” he said while staring ahead. “If you’re doing better then what does it matter?”
“No,” Simon said. “We can talk about it.”
If I keep avoiding it then it will just keep coming back up. I’ve learned to stop bottling things up, right? How pathetic would it be to walk that back so soon?
“I am feeling better,” Simon started with. “I think it was less the breakup that bothered me and more how long I let everything go on for. It was sort of just cruel to both of us, even if she was pushy at the start.”
Ryan nodded along and hummed in agreement.
“Like, I have no clue what I thought would happen. It’s not as if the relationship would suddenly get better after dragging it along for months. And as mean as it sounds, I wasn’t able to care about her the way she wanted me to.”
“Huh,” Ryan said. “I didn’t realize so much was on your mind. And here I thought you were just a little awkward.”
“It’s probably weird to talk this much about my personal life at a bus stop,” Simon said. Nobody on the benches had changed what they were doing. “You’re right about me being awkward, though. Even if I did like someone, I’m just not sure how to handle a relationship like that. Always wanting to be social and out doing activities and having a packed schedule. Sounds exhausting.”
“Might have just been a bad match?” Ryan was in the middle of stretching his arms.
“Probably. And I was willing to let it keep going, but Dani said something to me and I realized I was being the bad guy.” Simon worried he had said too much. Still, he couldn’t deny it felt good to talk about.
We really do need to hang out more often. I forgot how easy venting to Ryan can be.
“What did she say?”
Ryan’s posture shifted. He turned more toward Simon and brought his legs closer. It seemed as if he was waiting for Simon to say something more. An intensity in his stare was building.
Simon regretted mentioning Dani. After spending time focusing on being okay with his two roommates dating, he still had a ways to go before he wanted to talk about it openly. And now he had not only mentioned her, but mentioned something she said right after he confessed to her. Would Ryan beat him up if he found out? Probably not. If anything he would laugh and it would be the nail in the coffin for their friendship. Was it inevitable that he would find out eventually?
“Hello?” Ryan asked. “Did you forget or just zone out?”
“Sorry,” Simon said. “She just said I was being weird around Rachel and that I should treat her better.” He was happy with the way he worded it to not incriminate him in anything.
“Ah, that makes sense,” Ryan’s intensity lessened. “Was that why you two seemed to be fighting? Like, not talking to each other? I’m so used to you guys doing everything together, it’s a pretty big change.”
Dani must not have told him about what happened. Ryan’s not the type of guy to try and trap me in a lie or anything. Though it’s weird he thinks I should hang out with her more if they’re going on dates. Does he think I don’t know about that?
Simon nodded and spoke, “Yeah. Pretty dumb reason but I felt embarrassed because she was right. I should thank her, maybe.”
“That would be good. I do agree that you sort of got trapped in the situation with Rachel but it’s just easier to say sorry and move on.”
“Eh,” Simon said with a shrug. “I could have done things differently so I’ll accept my share of the blame.”
Ryan got quiet.
“What about you?” Simon asked. “The apartment was silent for days after Halloween. I thought you and Dani were going on dates and stuff, what happened?”
For the first time Simon could recall, Ryan blushed. Not as much as Dani did sometimes, it was only a soft pink. Nonetheless, it was new to him.
“Oh, you know about that?” Ryan said with a nervous laugh. “Things are good, nothing bad happened. The party was a little… Nah, everything is fine. It’s fun. It’s good.”
Holy shit, am I even talking to Ryan? I didn’t know he could act so nervous, I assumed it was physically impossible for him.
“Did something happen at the party?” Simon asked.
Ryan took a deep breath and regained his composure. “Nothing crazy. Maybe awkward but everything ended up okay in the end. I think she ended up having a good time. Sorry, she said I shouldn’t mention certain things to you.”
As the bus pulled up to the stop and screeched to a halt, Simon wished he had stayed home. The blood in his face fled, leaving him pale and empty.
Oh my god, they had sex.
Announcement Read ahead by four chapters over on my Patreon! As well as two parts into my new sci-fi story~