It's Just a Room

Part 2

Lyla:

Dan and Alex had been acting off the past few days, and it was really starting to worry me. Several times Dan had approached me when Alex was working or in the shower like he wanted to discuss something in private, but he would change the subject at the last minute. Also, they were also acting really awkward around each other. I really hope they didn't get into a fight or something.

I was caught up in my thoughts the next morning, mindlessly stirring my cereal bowl when Alex approached me. "Umm, Lyla?" Alex began, as if he were embarrassed about something.

"Oh hey, Alex. What's up?" I tried to question casually, maybe he could tell me what was going on.

"Did Dan talk to you yet? Um, about my staying here?" He stammered.

My face fell, "No, please don't tell me you're moving out! You really are the best house mate and I've really enjoyed your company –" I spoke, taking my own turn to stammer.

"No, no. Not at all, it's just. I was talking to him about, um, the...security settings on your wifi and he told me he'd discuss it with you before making a decision."

"The wifi security settings?" I repeated, confusion lacing my tone. "Why were we hacked?" I asked, panic rising in my voice.

"No! Everything is safe, he was just supposed to talk to you about it soon. Maybe he will tonight, it's really no problem." He tried to smile, his face a bit flushed.

"Alex, are you feeling ok, you look a bit off," I continued, standing to feel his forehead for a fever. He ducked away from my touch, his face growing redder and redder by the second.

"No, I'm fine. I really need to get back to work. Talk to you later." He stammered quickly, turning to race up the stairs and back to the safety of his room.

"That was odd," I muttered to myself before getting back to my breakfast.

Alex spent the rest of the day held up in his room. When Dan got home, he was still quiet. I tried to approach him about it at dinner, but he kept pushing off the subject. Alex similarly, only came down to make himself a sandwich then quickly retreated to his room. At least tomorrow was the start of the weekend, I thought glumly.

Washing the dishes, Dan approached me from behind, wrapping his arms around my waist in an odd gesture. He had been so distant lately, I thought something was wrong. "Honey, can we talk about something?" he murmured by my ear.

I straightened up, not responding to his touches, turning I met his face with my own hard expression. "Don't honey me, you practically ignore me for days, now want to be all intimate? Is this about the wifi problem?" I asked accusingly.

"Wifi problem?" Dan responded, confused.

"Yes, Alex asked me if you had discussed the security of our wifi with me, because evidentially you were supposed to in the past few days and instead you've been dodging every conversation with me." Dan's face heated up in embarrassment.

"Please, come sit down, I'll tell you everything." He took my hand and led me to the family room, where I sat opposite him on our long couch.

I couldn't believe my ears, slowly in hushed tones, Dan relayed to me why he's been so distant from me physically the last few well, if I'm being honest, I couldn't remember the last time he initiated sex. He explained that he has always had a particular interest in fetishes but had been too scared to tell me about it up until now.

I almost broke down, thinking that there was something that I was not giving him that led to this distance, he consoled me immediately. Quickly relaying that it was nothing I had done, he had always had this secret preference, ever since we were dating.