What Might've Been (Cricky)

Falling Down a Flight of Stairs

I'd chose to not believe a word of what TJ had told me. He'd warned me that Chris would break my heart, and told me that he was trying to, for lack of a better term, court me. I can't imagine that happening. I just can't. However, I still didn't know where Chris was to talk to him. He wasn't answering his phone either. I wasn't too worried about that. After parking my car, I started walking up the few flights of stairs to my apartment. I twirled the keys to my front door in my fingers, watching them spin around and around. When I arrived at my floor, I was unsurprised to find the typical emptiness of the hallway. The landlady here drove a bit of a hard bargain, so not many people wanted to rent. Strangely though, there was a notice taped to my door. I read it quickly, realizing in that moment that I'd forgotten to pay rent for the month. I'd made the down payment, but I was going to be evicted. 

And I'd just finished unpacking too.

I reluctantly opened the door to my apartment and started putting my things into the boxes I'd been saving just in case. I would have no choice but to take Chris up on his offer to move in with everyone else. As if on cue, there was a knock on my door. I took a deep breath, walked over to it, and opened it, very surprised to see that TJ hadn't been lying. Chris had an either black or very dark purple rose in his hand and an awkward smile on his face. "Hi," He started. 

"I'm getting evicted," I blurted, not in the mood to get all lovey-dovey with Chris right now. "I'm very busy packing." I walked away from the door. "I guess I'll be moving in with you guys after all."

He dropped the rose as concern filled his face. "What? How could you get evicted? You've only been here a month!"

"And I didn't pay rent. I forgot." I shook my head. "We've got a strict due date around here," I explained. "If anything's late, you get one day to move your ass out or get the boot."

"That's the most fucking stupid thing I've ever heard."

"It's okay. At least I have somewhere else to go. Otherwise I'd be living in my car, and I really don't want to do that."  Although living in one's car does sound rather rock and roll. 

"Do you need me to help you with anything?" He offered. 

"Do you remember when you took all of those dishes out of those boxes?" He nodded. "I need you to put those dishes back into those boxes." I pointed to my bedroom. "In the meantime I'll start packing my clothes." 

It took about three hours to get all of my things away. I didn't have that much, but I can't imagine that I'd have the space for everything at the house. "Do you think I should rent a storage unit?" I asked. 

"Do you have the money for a storage unit?" Chris replied. 

I thought about the jar of money I had sitting on the counter. "Probably not," I sighed.

"It's alright. You'll be able to find the space." He looked around. "There aren't that many boxes here, after all." He pointed to all my instruments. "And those can just go in the garage with everyone else's."

"I appreciate you letting me stay." I felt like I was taking advantage of his kindness. 

"We're gonna be together for a while anyways. If anything, the process is just speeding up." A smile appeared on his face. "Besides, I like seeing you."

I looked down, shuffling my feet. "I found your note in the library." I reached into my pocket and found the crumpled up post-it, showing it to Chris. "I wanted to talk to you about it, but you weren't at the house. When I came back here, I saw the eviction note. It completely slipped my mind."

"There's nothing to talk about," He shook his head. "It's selfish of me to give you a special treatment. I'll bet your overwhelmed anyways, still being considered 'the new guy' and all."

"I didn't mean that," I clarified. "I never would've let you take me out if I didn't want-"

"Listen," He held up a hand, cutting me off. "If you didn't still have open wounds from your last relationship, you wouldn't have told me about it. So while I may act sweet," He gestured to the rose that he'd earlier dropped on the floor still lying there, "there can't be anything here until you're healed." He smiled sadly. "Don't try to rush anything, okay?"

My heart ached with disappointment, but I nodded anyways, knowing that he was right. "That's probably the best idea." I thought back for a moment. "TJ told me that you were planning on dancing with me until the world spun like I was drunk."

"Did he now?" Chris raised a perfect eyebrow. "He's gotta stop feeding people lies." He snapped his fingers with frustration. 

"He also said you were buying me flowers, and well..." I pointed to the rose.

"Don't believe everything that TJ tells you. I mean, you can believe about half of what he says. Yes, I was coming here with one flower, and I was going to ask you if you would like to learn what little I know about ballroom dancing. He's prone to exaggerate the truth."

"What changed your mind?"

"An afterthought." He didn't further explain. I found that this was starting to become increasingly more frequent with Chris. He didn't talk much of anything. He had to be thinking something though. What would it take to get it out?