Divide By Two (Revamp)

Chapter 3: Baggage

I was driving home after work, around 6 PM on June 20.

Things were alright. My music was playing, my phone was silent, the road was clear. I had the two most important people to me waiting at home, and today was a smooth day. It was about a 30 minute drive home, only interrupted by one text.

I glanced down at my screen, seeing the "Are you mad at me?" text.

Great.

I really couldn't ignore Four's text, not this one. I pick up my phone, glancing between the road and the screen as I reply. "No ❤️" ":3" I set the phone down, I could pretty much hear the next message he sent in my head.

"Are you sure?" It was like this a lot, but I knew he couldn't help that paranoia. "Im sure ❤️❤️" It was always hard to get my tone through text, so the emojis helped. "Okay sorry" I decide to not reply to that one, as it didn't really need a response.

I kept driving, eventually pulling up to the house. Two was on the couch, smiling when they notice me. "Hi X!" They set their phone down. "Hey Two!" I replied, walking further into the house. "Is Four still in his room?" I ask, not seeing Four in the living room. "Yeah, he's been in there all day, he must be hungry." hm.

I walk down the hall, opening the door to see Four asleep. At this hour? I walk into the room, softly shutting the door behind me. "Four?" I walk over to his sleeping form, putting a hand on his shoulder and gently shaking him awake. He starts to wake up and opens his eyes, quickly jerking his shoulder away before looking at me.

"Oh, hi X!" He smiled. "Hey Four" I smiled back. Glad to see he was in a good mood. "You hungry?" I ask, sitting on the edge of the bed as he sits up. "Oh, yeah! I should probably make dinner.." He stood up, not even giving me a chance to sit for a moment as he walked out. I followed, a small smile on my face.

He seemed to forget Two was there, because he froze when he noticed them. But he quickly got over it, walking past them into the kitchen without a word. I let him do his thing as I go sit next to Two on the couch, having a small conversation. It was oddly quiet in the kitchen for a while, just the sound of sizzling food.

Eventually I took Two into the kitchen to sit down. They seemed interested in what Four was cooking, walking to take a glance before they sat down. Four tensed up as Two glanced over his shoulder at the pan. I got a bad feeling immediately as Four gripped the handle of the pan a little tighter.

"Hey, uh, Two! Why don't you sit down?" I ask, trying to avoid a messy conflict. They seem to get the hint and come sit, looking a bit embarrassed. I wasn't sure when to send Two home, but I knew it should be soon. I felt pretty bad for taking someone Four hated into our home, but Two was my best friend, I couldn't just leave them to figure everything out all alone.

"I'm gonna look and see what places are hiring today, I should probably go soon, don't wanna.. overstay my welcome" They nod towards Four at that last part. I nod. "Yeah, we've got some house stuff to do, I'll see ya later though!"

"Yeah, for sure!" They smile as they stand up, walking out.

I look back to Four, he was visibly relieved, his shoulders now rested loosely rather than tensed up.