Laughter [Garrett Watts x OFC]

[That's Not Fair]

I had the Uber driver drop me off a block away from the house. I didn't want the sound of the vehicle to grab Garrett's attention before I was ready to knock on his door. What are you supposed to say to someone you hadn't seen in a year? Hey. I know I left with almost no notice and we both ghosted each other, but I still have feelings for you. That didn't begin to cover how I felt about the last months.

I rehearsed a few more things in my head before saying fuck it and marching straight to his door. After knocking a little more aggressively than I should have, I held my breath and waited.

"Just a sec," I heard from the other side. I gulped and contemplated running away, but the door opened a moment later. "Elle." Garrett's eyes were huge behind his glasses as he stared at me in disbelief.

"Hey," I said with a small wave. The next thing I knew, the door was being shut in my face. Shock washed over me and I stood frozen in place. Out of all the outcomes I went over in my head, this hadn't been one of them. I bit my lip as tears started to form and turned around to walk away. My therapist's words repeated in my head as I made my way down the drive: He's entitled to his own reaction. His feelings are valid and you can't be mad at him if he doesn't react how you want. Getting a door shut in my face wasn't exactly what I'd wanted. I pulled my phone out to get another Uber home.

"Wait! Don't leave yet!" I turned to see Garrett running towards me. He stopped in front of me and breathed heavily a couple of times, catching his breath. "You caught me off guard," he said. "I wasn't expecting anyone, let alone you, and the place is a wreck. I had to make a walking path. I should've said something, but I just reflexively shut the door."

"I was scared you were pissed at seeing me," I confessed as I wiped away the few stray tears that had fallen.

"What? No way! Just surprised. It's actually really good to see you." He opened his arms to me and I quickly found myself embracing him. It was stiff and awkward, but still comforting in a way I didn't know I needed. I inhaled before letting go, breathing in the smell of Garrett's light cologne.

"It's really good to see you, too." The sun had already set, so I was only able to see Garrett in the dim residual light of a street lamp a few yards away, but he was still everything I remembered.

"Like I said, the place is a mess, but do you want to come in?"

"That would be nice." I smiled up at him and then followed as we made the way back up the drive. My heart was beating harder than it had in awhile and my palms were sweating. I fidgeted with the hair band on my wrist.

"Andrew and I were putting final touches on our podcast space earlier. I'm in the process of moving, so things are a bit crowded right now." I looked around the tiny house I'd once been familiar with and saw boxes stacked all around, aside from a furnished area along the wall facing the front door. The space they'd decorated was cluttered, but in a well-designed way.

"This looks really cool. I didn't know you guys were doing a podcast."

"We've been playing with the idea for awhile. Ever since we had that falling out with the others after the big ordeal, he and I have actually had the time to plan and get things going. We're set to record our first one next week if I can find a place and get the rest of this stuff out." He walked over to the couch and plopped down. He looked stressed and I couldn't help but feel bad. I had to fight the urge to place my hand on his.

"Not to be too straight forward, but I've got a couple of places in the neighborhood I just moved into. I'm living in one of them and I was going to rent out the others. I can give you the number for the management company that's handling it. I'm strictly hands-off, so I don't think it would be weird."