What Might've Been (Cricky)

The Only Difference Between Me and You (Fifty Seconds to Hell)

A/n: Idk when this was taken but damn TJ looks so young^^

I'd finally decided to make an effort to put my clothes in a closet. Unfortunately, I realized that I didn't have any hangers. Not wanting to go out without at least a little makeup on, I wandered off to the bathroom to find eyeliner. Of course, a little eyeliner turned into a lot of eyeshadow too. 

My phone buzzed on the counter outside, and I went to check it, fixing my hair as I did so. A text message from TJ was to be expected. 

Still missing rainy city

Of course I am u idiot
it was my home

Anything I can do to make u feel more at home here

I didn't respond to the question, mostly because I didn't know how to. I guess one way that I'd feel more at home is if I unpacked my things. There were never boxes around my place in Seattle. 

U can help me unpack my boxes if u want to

There was no response for a while. I honestly thought that I'd scared him off by offering him any work. Unfortunately, I was wrong. 

I'd be honored to help you

I don't know how to take that. TJ's hard to read properly. Maybe it's just the way that he comes off to me, though. I guess I just don't understand his personality yet. But, back to the matter at hand. I've got to go and buy myself some hangers. 

I'd gotten sidetracked at the store, and ended up buying myself a coffee machine as well. It was hard to carry the large box and my hangers up the stairs to my floor. "Do you need help?" Someone asked from behind me.

"Yeah, that would be great," I said, turning around slowly. The person who was standing behind me was someone that I was sure I'd seen before, but I didn't know for sure. "You're Josh, right?"

"Yup. I was coming to check up on you. You seemed really shy when we first met. I just wanted you to know there's no reason why you can't.....Fuck I don't know why. This sounds so lame."

"You were worried about me?" I filled in for him.

"Yeah. I brought you a housewarming gift." 

"That's really sweet," I assured him. We continued up the stairs, walking slowly so that I wouldn't fall walking backwards. It took only about another minute to get to my apartment. I handed the box and hangers to Josh while I dug through my pocket for my keys. Once the door was unlocked, I took both and put them inside. 

"You haven't done much unpacking," He noted, looking around. 

"TJ's supposed to help me, but I don't know when he's getting down here." 

He looked at me strangely. "TJ willingly agreed to help you unpack? He must want something from you."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll let you be the judge, but he can be a little tricky when he wants something."

"Okay, then." I rummaged through a junk drawer to find a pair of scissors to open the box with the coffee maker inside. "What's my housewarming gift?"

He reached into his pocket and found a small box. I took it from him and opened it, finding a deck of cards. "I figured if you live alone, you may as well have a deck of cards to play solitaire with. If you have company over, at least you can give them something to do."

"Thanks." I put the deck of cards on the counter. 

"Sorry it took so long I caught caught in-" TJ started shouting, barging into my apartment without knocking first. "Josh," He noted, looking at the other.

"TJ," He noted, nodding. "I was just leaving. Good luck unpacking." And with that, Josh left my apartment. 

"You should've knocked first," I told him. 

"The door was unlocked," He shrugged. "As far as I'm concerned, that means entry is free."

"That's so criminal," I shook my head. I took the coffee machine out of its box, discarding it. "You can start by separating those hangers." I nodded to the plastic hangers I'd just bought. 

He looked around. "You really haven't unpacked anything, have you?"

I nodded to my instruments. "I unpacked those."

He chuckled. Yesterday, he hadn't seen the inside of my apartment. I think he was mildly unimpressed now that he has. He ripped the cardboard off of the hangers, damaging it beyond repair. 

"You could've just used the scissors," I told him. 

"Yeah, but then you wouldn't have watched me."

"You really are a cocky little shit," I shook my head at him. I plugged the coffee maker in and moved on to another box, grabbing the scissors to break the tape sealing it shut. TJ drummed his fingers on the kitchen's laminate countertop. "You do know how to put clothes on a hanger, right?" I looked up. 

"Oh, right." He looked around. "Where are they?"

I pointed to a door. "In the room. Don't bother putting anything away, just put all of the shirts on hangers."

He nodded, wandering off to my bedroom. I wondered about the gravity of what I'd just allowed him to do. On second thought, maybe I trusted him more with the dishes than my clothes. 

I was pleasantly surprised when he returned ten minutes later. "Anything else?" He asked while I put a mug in a cabinet. 

"You only put the shirts on hangers, right?" I asked. "That's all you touched?"

"What? Getting sinful thoughts?" He asked, feigning innocence. I looked away from him. "At least I came off like I wanted to," He sighed. 

Josh was right, TJ does want something. "You can open that box of plates and put them in that cabinet over there." I pointed to the cabinet farthest from me. TJ nodded, grabbing the scissors to open the box. I was surprised that he didn't apologize for making me uncomfortable. As far as I was concerned, he was officially bad news. I wasn't interested in sex with a man I'd just met.