All I Want is Everything-Bunk'd Lou and Ravi Oneshots

Builder

Ravi stood out on the lawn of the house he had recently purchased. For weeks he had admired the neighbors' lovely deck built on the front porch until finally he walked over to the house beside his and introduced himself. The man that lived there had been sitting on a porch swing strumming the guitar when Ravi came over. He introduced himself as Xander McCormick, giving him a friendly smile and polite handshake. Ravi asked for the builder's information to inquire about getting a deck built on to his own home, but it turned out that one of the neighbors had actually built it herself, Lou. She wasn't at home at the time, but Xander had promised to send her over as soon as she had time. Ravi had thanked him and waited patiently for two days until Lou knocked on his door.

"Howdy," Lou greeted him. She was wearing overalls and flannel and had a purple handkerchief tied around her ponytail. "Ravi, right?"

"Good morning," Ravi smiled as he stepped outside. "You must be Lou."

Ravi had seen Lou and Xander on occasion since moving into his new house. They would carry grocery bags together out of their cars and sit on the deck together in the evenings. He thought they looked like a really nice couple. But Ravi had also had Lou smile in his direction once when she was getting the mail and it felt like the world had stopped spinning. He felt guilty for it as soon as she walked back up to her house and Xander walked out to open the door for her.

"You look nice," Lou whistled good-naturedly.

Unlike Lou, Ravi wasn't dressed casually. He wore a crisp, button-up shirt and dark colored jeans. He nervously scratched the back of his neck as he tried not to be flattered that the attractive, married woman next door said he looked nice.

"Um, thank you," he said politely. "My sister is having a dinner tonight."

Lou nodded and wordlessly walked around the front of the house with measuring tape and her phone. Ravi watched her type notes into her phone and he held the tape when she asked. He answered her questions about the size and materials he was interested in for the deck. All the while listening to her chatter about nothing in particular and laughing when she said something funny. It couldn't have been more than ten or fifteen minutes, but Ravi was certain that he did not want this woman to build the deck. She was too nice and her husband was too nice and he didn't want to be the creepy guy next door that had a crush on his neighbor's wife.

He knew he would not be contracting her for her building services, but he wanted to be polite and not seem like he had wasted her time. So, he asked with no intention of actually moving forward with the project, "How much would this all cost me?"

Lou leaned causally against the side of the house as she stood near the doorway. She hummed and loosely crossed her arms. "Let's see...how about cost of materials and... you take me to dinner?"

Ravi stared at her for a moment. He wondered if he had heard her correctly, so he wiggled his earlobe. She uncrossed her arms and tucked her hands in her pockets as she looked at him expectantly. Ravi glanced over in the direction of her house. Her yard was empty except for a wheelbarrow full of white pea gravel for the garden. The deck was empty, but a chill ran through Ravi's spine that any moment Xander would step out onto the porch and decide to murder him for even being flattered.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. McCormick, but that would be entirely inappropriate," Ravi said sternly. He didn't have the heart to narrow his eyes at her though. Because if she were single, he would have said yes.

Lou leaned away from the house. She raised her eyebrow at him and repeated, "Mrs. McCormick?" She stepped to the side to lean back and check out her yard. "Is Xander's mom home? I don't see her car..."

"No, I um, mean that you're married," Ravi said. He stood up straighter to make sure to seem offended so that the message was clear.

Lou gave him an odd look as she stared at him. Ravi looked around to avoid making eye contact. He saw a father and son walk by on the sidewalk. There was a bird in the birdbath in the yard across the street from his and the McCormicks'. He finally looked at her when she inhaled a sharp intake of breath.

"Oh!" Lou facepalmed and chuckled. "No, no!"

Ravi felt his face heat with embarrassment. Obviously he had misunderstood her offer as a date. Of course, she wasn't asking him to buy her dinner in a romantic way. She had probably meant a neighborly dinner or gathering like his own sister was having. He felt like such an idiot. He was about to apologize when her next words left him speechless.

"Xander isn't my husband, Ravi. He's my best friend. We've known each other since we were kids. We work at the same elementary school and decided to buy a house together in a neighborhood close to work," Lou explained. She chuckled and added, "Me and him are together because I'm not married. And neither is he."

"Oh," Ravi drawled as realization dawned on him. "You're not..."

"Nope," Lou replied as she stepped away from his doorway and climbed down the steps leading to his lawn. She rocked back on her heels and said, "But that doesn't mean I should've asked you out."

Ravi snapped out of his slight daze. He quickly climbed down the stairs so that he stood in front of her. "No! I mean... you should have definitely asked me out." He tried to casually tuck his hands in his pockets, but he missed entirely and then opted to just fold them behind his back.

"Good," Lou said, letting out a sigh of relief. "I've seen you around. And I noticed you weren't wearing a ring, so I figured. Cute guy... maybe he'll trade me dinner for manual labor."

Ravi laughed at her joke and at the fact that he had completely forgotten to check for a ring. He glanced at her hand and saw it was bare. He hardly knew her, but it felt strange that her finger didn't have a wedding ring on it. But he was glad she didn't so that he could happily reply.

"You've got yourself a deal."