Color of the Dark - Chapter 1

She watched him from the corner of her eyes as she sat two seats away from him, his head resting in his hand as it was supported by the ledge of the countertop. She wasn’t sure if he could recognize her in this state, so she kept her distance, realizing it was for the better if he didn’t. She was his friend, albeit not his best one, but his friend nonetheless. As the brown haired male stared off into the wall behind the bartender, he didn’t blink. Not even once. His hazel eyes bore holes into the walls, walls who no doubt would have complained if given the opportunity to do so. The white button down that clung to his body, complimented his deep tan skin, even more so with the dim light that surrounded them.

They weren’t particularly ‘best’ friends, but they were good enough friends to the point she began to wonder if hiding from him was really for the best, or if it was a selfish attempt on her part to avoid conflict. She looked down at her half eaten plate of chicken wings as though they would help her to decide her next course of action. She sighed once, grabbed her plate and got up moving to the spot next to his. She was finally close enough to get a closer look at his face, she noticed the bags under his eyes as his eyes absentmindedly glanced over at her. He shifted slightly in her direction as he noticed who she was.

“Hola,” she smiled at him. She grabbed a wing and gestured over to the plate, “want some?” He put his hands down and smiled at her.

“No thanks,” he said simply.

“What’s wrong, caballero?” He chuckled a bit, at last he laughs.

“You know I love it when you speak Spanish to me, _____. Your accent is so bad,” he spoke as though he was going to hurt her feelings. She snickered at his comment.

“Yeah well, your English isn’t that great either.” Her elbow came into contact with the side of his arm as she retorted, thankful he didn’t take comments about his slight accent seriously. “But seriously, what’s wrong?” His head went right back into his hands as his smile disappeared once again.

“It’s nothing,” he murmured.

“You can tell me, remember we used to gossip all the time?”

“I remember.” He sighed. The conversation won’t go far if we continue like this, she thought to herself. The two sat in silence for a minute or so before he spoke up, “can I take up the offer for some of those wings?”

“Of course, take as much as you like.” He took one and fingered it a bit before he took a bite. He ate the whole thing before speaking up.

“You know my girlfriend, right?” The girl reflexively ground her teeth at the mention of said girlfriend.

“Yeah, what about her,” she asks.

“Well she thinks that we’re moving too fast, that I can’t offer her stability, whatever that means,” he stops for a moment to grab another wing. “That I’m too clingy. She broke up with me, and since we’re living together, well, we were living together, I have nowhere to stay.” Ah shit, here it comes, she thought to herself. “I didn’t want to burden you, but can I stay by you for a few days?”

“But, Lance, you don’t like my cat, remember? I still have her in my apartment,” she attempted to reason with him.

“Beggars can’t be choosers, right?” He had a look on his face that seemed he’d already made up his mind before she made hers up, yet his face also had a pitiful look in it.

“Lance,” she started. She didn’t have the heart to reject him, and she would have regretted it if she did. “You can stay as long as you need.” She looked him in his seemingly color changing eyes, as she was now met with the gaze of blue eyes.

“Thank you,” he said with a sad undertone. “I was so scared you would reject me.” His voice was calm and genuine. “I guess I should stop eating your wings now, huh?”

“Don’t worry about it,” she assured him. “I was the one who offered.” They sat in silence eating together as the wings finally dwindled down to one left.

“Take it,” they said simultaneously, which prompted a laugh between them. She was about to speak when he spoke before her. “Take it, I’m being selfish if I don’t give it to you. I mean you’re taking me in after all.”

“Laying it on a little thick don’t you think, sharpshooter?” She giggled. “We could share it if you like.”

“Share one wing? I’m broke yeah, but not that broke ______.” He laughed more than he spoke. “But you’re treating me next time.” Already finished with the wing, she almost laughed herself off the seat.

“Yeah we’ll see about that.” He smiled at her words. “By the way, why aren’t you drinking? It’s not like you.”

“Do you think I’m a drunk _____?” He feigned offense.

“Not at all, just saying, isn’t that what people who are bummed out usually come to do at bars?”

“Yeah but I have to drive, just needed somewhere to wallow in my own self pity.” He reminded her, but mostly himself.

“Ah I see.”

“Besides I can drink at your place,” he jested.

“Yea– hold on, what?”

“You heard me.” He elbowed her, mirroring the way she did earlier. She was silent for a minute before she decided the ask the question that had been on her mind since she found out about his break up.

“Lance, how are you taking this so well?” He’d justo broken up with his girlfriend of a year and a half, yet he acted like it was a minor inconvenience. He grew silent and thought about her question.

“I don’t know, I guess because you’re here,” he flirted. His face grew stern for a moment. “But seriously, I don’t know, prolly wasn’t love, just infatuation. When it happened, I was more upset about finding a place to stay than I was of losing her. That sounds so bad, I know.”

“No it doesn’t,” she reassured him. “I’m glad you trust me enough to tell me.” She slipped her hand on top of his. She second guessed her movements as soon as she did them, maybe it came off like she was flirting with him now? Would it be too soon for him? Lance, on the other hand, didn’t mind or even read that deeply into her gesture.

“Did you pay for the food already,” he changed the subject.

“Yeah I did,” she replied.

“How? You don’t have a purse on you,” he inquired.

“That’s ‘cause I keep all my money here,” she gestured to her breasts.

“In your titties?”

“No! In my bra! I can’t deal with you,” she laughed.

“Are you ready to leave then? Because my back is killing me,” he explained.

“Yeah I’m ready, first we have to take the Q train to Kings High–”

“No no, I’ll drive us there, remember?”

“Oh yeah.” How could she have forgotten something she heard only minutes ago?

The two stepped out of the bar just after 11 pm. They walked out of the bar and continued for about a block, making small talk along the way, to where he parked his car. It was a Cadillac XT4 from last year, but she could tell he took good care of it. He unlocked the door with his keys and rushed to open the door for her.

“Thank you,” she smiled.

“No problem,” he smiled back walking to the other side to enter the car himself. He gave her the GPS and told her to input the address. She could feel his eyes on her as he waited, aiding the self-conscious feelings that grew inside her.

“I just want to warn you, my apartment isn’t that big, I have a guest bedroom, but it’s more like a closet. Not to mention, Blue will want to sniff you before she trusts you.” She handed back his GPS. She wasn’t sure why he used it when he had one in his phone.

“It’s cool, I’ve been there before remember? When my friend and I came to help you move those couches?” He recalled. “I’m also pretty sure Blue still hates me and will never trust me.”

“She doesn’t hate you. To her, you’re just a stranger who stepped on her tail, accident or not, she sees that as a threat.”

“Yeah yeah yeah, I’ll try my best to get on her good graces.”

The rest of the car ride was mostly silent, aside from Lance and _____ humming along to songs that played on the radio. She felt herself drifting to sleep as he smoothly maneuvered his car. The silence was broken when he spoke up.

“I have most of my stuff in the back and in the trunk.” He chuckled wryly. “She gave me less than an hour to get my stuff.” Not knowing what else to say, she opted for the default.

“I’m sorry, Lance.” She hadn’t known what else to say, but she did mean that. She was sorry he had to be put in a situation like that. She glanced over at him. In this light, his eyes looked brown again. “Is there anyway I can help?” He took his eyes off the road for one second to look at her, then back at the road.

“You’re already helping me, thank you.” That was the last they spoke for the rest of the ride. As he stopped at a red light, he turned the radio volume up higher. It began to play Egotistic by Mamamoo, a song befitting a situation like his.

Finally, the two of them reached her building and Lance found a parking spot right outside. What a stroke of luck. As he unbuckled his seatbelt, she stopped his hands.

“I’m gonna go in ahead of you, and take a shower, then you’ll shower and we’ll have that drink you wanted.” She was about to exit the car before she stopped. “Oh yeah, I’m on the 4th floor, around the corner. I’ll leave it unlocked for you. Lock it though, can’t have this becoming a boarding house.”

“O-oh ok, thanks.” He shook his head smiling at her.

After a while, he’d brought up his essentials in boxes, and that shower ____ promised him looked very appealing. Once he opened the door, took off his shoes and closed the door behind him, he was greeted with the scene of her in her pajamas asleep on the couch and Blue asleep next to her. He hadn’t been downstairs for that long, had he? Granted, he was dealing with haphazardly strewn about boxes which lacked any form of organization. He watched her form move ever so slightly with every breath she took, turning the locks slowly so as not to wake her. Once she heard the lock click, she opened her eyes towards the direction of the sound, only to find him staring at her from the doorway.

“Hey,” she slurred, sleep stained her voice. Their eyes met once before they looked away, she’d never seen him in a state like this—vulnerable, desperate and open. The same way he’d never seen her like this. “So, did you find everything ok?”

“Yeah, mostly. The rest is in the car though.” His eyes glanced at everything in the room, though his eyes avoided her. ____ sat up—much to Blue’s chagrin as Blue could feel the warmth she’d been sapping from her owner slowly vanish—and stretched her body which turned into knots as she took her short nap. She strode over to Lance, grabbed some of the boxes’ contents and found places for them to be stored for the time being. She washed her hands after having come into contact with the bottoms of the boxes. Boxes which were clearly old boxes that had previously been lying around the garbage before they took their place as storage containers for the poor man’s belongings. Though Lance’s shoes were off, he had his jacket hanging over his shoulders on the button down, which ____ now realized was tucked into form fitting black slacks.

“Take off your jacket and give it to me,” she said simply. Lance did as he was told, sliding off his shoulders a passing it to her. She opened a closet that somehow hid from view next to the front door, and placed it on a hanger. “I’ll find a place for your clothes later, ‘cause I don’t think that your room can fit all your stuff comfortably.” Her words drifted off towards the end of the sentence.

“My room, huh,” he teased.

“Shut it. Don’t push your luck,” she retorted, smirking at him. She closed the closet door and leaned against it. “So do you still wanna take that drink?”

“Yeah, but I wanna shower first.”

“Oh yeah, let me show you where the bathroom is.” She walked him down the hall and showed him all he needed. “The only problem is that I have only one bathroom, so we’ll have to share. I’ll wait for you in the living room.” She considered slapping his butt for just a moment, then decided against doing so. Instead she watched as he disappeared into the bathroom, realizing that she didn’t give a towel. She ran to grab one from the closet in her room and ran back to knock on the bathroom door before he went into the shower. He peeked out of the bathroom door that he only cracked open.

“Yes?”

“You forgot a towel,” she mumbled as she handed it to him, or rather attempted to hand it to him, through the small opening. 

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if you recognize that i originally intended this to be vld fanfiction, no you didnt. ____ is in place of a name, she doesn't have a name yet

© 2020 Cecevex