It was late at night when Luke got home. He had dropped Spencer off at his apartment as the night fell upon them.
Lisa went up to Luke as soon as he opened his apartment door and screamed, "What the hell?"
"I forgot about our date." He lied, though she didn't see through it. "I'm sorry."
"We barely spend time together because of your work. Where were you?" She questioned.
He sighed, already tired of her questions. "Come on, Lisa, you always do this."
"Where were you?" She repeated.
"I went for a walk in the woods with Roxy." Holding onto the full truth.
"I could've gone with you, you know?" She huffed.
"You don't even like Roxy." He murmured.
"Yes, I do. She's the one who doesn't like me."
"Because you don't like her! You shoo her away every time she goes up to you."
She rolled her eyes at him. "Don't change the subject on me. Where were you?"
"I was with a friend."
She scoffed. "Spencer." She said it like it was no surprise to her. "Looks like he's more your boyfriend than I ever was your girlfriend."
"He's my friend that actually remembered my birthday yesterday."
"Luke, I'm sorry." She said, her facial expression and tone of voice completely changed. "I forgot babe, I-"
"No, you really-" Luke tried to calm down. He took a deep breath and said, "Lisa, this is over."
"What? You can't do this to me."
"I can, and I did."
"Is this because I forgot about your birthday? Because you're in love with that nerd? What do you see in him anyway?"
"It's not about you forgetting my birthday. I don't even care about that. It's so much more than that, and Spencer is not a nerd! He's the most caring, loyal, selfless, smartest person I know who makes me smile every single day, even when we don't talk. With you, it's the complete opposite." He yelled. "Our relationship is not healthy, Lisa. You're never interested in what I have to say. You constantly make me feel bad for having this job and not spending enough time with you. I could go on!"
"Oh, so I'm the bad guy here?"
He ignored her question and repeated, "We need to break up."
She scoffed. "Fine by me," and with a slam of the door, she was gone.
Roxy, who was in her bed, kept her head perched on her paws and raised her ears.
Luke went over to her and scratched behind her ear, which he knew she liked. "It's ok, Roxy. It's over." He said, more to himself than to her.
A few moments later, he heard a knock on the door.
"Look, I'm not in the mood to--" He began, but as he reached the door to open it, he was surprised to see his neighbor, Janie, in the doorway.
"Everything ok?" She asked. "Pretty thin walls."
Luke let out a breath, thinking it all over.
He let her into her apartment, and he said, "We broke up, and I feel oddly good about it. Like a weight's been lifted off my shoulders, so yeah, I think everything is ok."
"That's good. What's important is that you're happy."
As he got lost in thought, Janie asked, "What's on your mind?"
He looked up. "Nothing. Don't worry about it."
"I came for a reason, Luke."
He hesitated but finally budged. "I've been spending time with Spencer. He heard that Lisa forgot my birthday, so we went out for a walk in the woods with Roxy. We went to that bridge I told you about, watching the sky darken, and we almost kissed."
Janie raised her eyebrows at the last part. "Sounds romantic."
He smiled as he thought about the night they had shared. He wasn't ready for it to end, but the night willed it to. "Yeah." He replied.
"Well, I have to go. Those dogs chew on everything they see in my apartment." She joked. "By the way, did you like the present I gave you?"
"Of course I did. I loved it! It's easily one of the best gifts I've gotten. You must've put so much time and effort into drawing this star wars poster." He said. "You sure you want to keep dog-sitting? Being an artist would suit you more."
"Nah, I'm good with dog-sitting. The owners pay me good. I've got eight of them paying me ten an hour every day."
"That reminds me: I should pay you."
"I've already told you, Luke. It's on the house. You're my neighbor and one of my closest friends. It's free for you." She told him. "Anyway, what did your loverboy give you?"
"He is not my loverboy, Janie."
She rolled her eyes and said, "Please tell me."
"Fine. A customized Star Wars mug with me as one of the Jedi's."
She gasped and said, "Show me."
Luke smiled at that and went to his cabinet to take it out for his neighbor to see it.
"Is that you?" She asked as she saw a cartoon-like Luke, to which he nodded. "This is so precious. Luke, you have got to ask him out."
"Did you just come here to convince me to ask him out, Janie?"
"Of course not, I just wanted to gossip." She said, and they both laughed "Luke, he's just as whipped for you as you are for him."
"Didn't you say you had to go, or else all those dogs were going to tear your apartment apart?"
Her eyes widened as she remembered the dogs she was dog-sitting. "Just think about what I said, ok?"
"I will. Goodnight, Janie," He closed the door as she went out to go back next door to her apartment.
He decided to go to bed with Roxy by his side, and then he heard a ping from his phone.
Spencer:
Had a great time tonight. Hope there will be others like this.
He couldn't stop the smile from forming on his face as he read the message.
Luke:
There definitely will be. Can't wait for that
He rolled over in his bed and exhaled, feeling a sense of peace overcome him.
Even if Spencer was only his friend, it was the least he could hope for and he was ok with that.
He shut his eyes and soon fell asleep with the events from the night replaying in his mind.
"Break up with your girlfriend yeah yeah 'cause I'm bored." -Break up with your Girlfriend by Ariana Grande.
