A Cacophony Of Feelings

Wrong Roommate

 After that pseudo-date thing(MePhone didn't know what to call it), Cheesy started reaching out to MePhone more, which made him go into Idiot Mode every single time. It made him happy that Cheesy wanted to hang out with him, but really, did he have to forget all his social skills whenever they interacted? He was supposed to be the super charismatic yet also mysterious host of ever-popular reality show Inanimate Insanity, not a bumbling moron who'd forget his own name because of a guy he liked!

MePhone struggled for a long time to come up with an outing where he could properly get his feelings off his chest. It had to be special. If it wasn't special, that would make MePhone even stupider than he already was. Cheesy meant so much to him, and he wanted him to know that by telling him in the most romantic setting possible. Weeks of brainstorming went into his master plan, with MePhone imagining every possible outcome at every moment of the day. He knew how to react to every single one.

And today he was going to put it all into motion. He was prepared. He walked up to Cheesy's door, knocked on it, and...

"Yeah?" Pickle said as he opened the door. MePhone blinked in confusion, before remembering that, yes, this guy lived in this room too.

"Oh, I came here for Cheesy," He explained.

"He's out," Pickle said blankly.

"Oh," MePhone blushed. He caught a glance over Pickle's shoulder at the room behind him. It was a mess, but MePhone didn't take much note of that. He was more focused on a picture frame, which sat on the little table next to the couch. Without thinking, he stepped past Pickle and approached the table to get a better look. As expected, in the frame was an old picture of Pickle and Taco. He remembered they used to date. The breakup was rough.

"Uh..." Pickle was now standing on the other side of the end table. "Whatcha looking at?"

"You two made it look so easy..." MePhone mumbled.

"What?"

"When you were with Taco. You were so wholesome... and you weren't even trying!"

"She dumped me for someone who died two minutes later," Pickle laughed humorlessly, then glared at MePhone, crossing his arms. "Is that what you call wholesome?"

"No, before all that!" MePhone waved his hands defensively. "How did you get her to date you with so little effort?"

"I-I dunno, something about throwing away her dignity for her cover? I just... told her I liked her. I knew she'd understand since she was my best friend."

"On a whim?" MePhone pressed. "You asked her out, just like that?"

"I gave her a note asking her to meet with me, but otherwise, yeah."

MePhone resisted the urge to scoff at that. Pickle was in love with his best friend, and didn't bother to make his confession special in any way? He didn't go over it repeatedly, making a detailed illustration of the perfect moment in his mind, hoping it would all go as planned? No wonder Taco cheated on him!

"Why are you even asking me about this?" Pickle asked after a few seconds of silence. "I thought it was generally accepted that when the person you're looking for isn't where you're looking for them that you leave their roommate alone."

"It's just..." MePhone trailed off, then tried again. "There's someone I want to ask out. I've been kind of," He waved his hand vaguely. "Obsessing over it, I guess. I've got responses to every possible outcome locked and loaded, but there's something in the back of my head that's been holding me back."

"I knew it!"

"What?"

"I fucking knew you were into Cheesy, I called it forever ago! Knife owes me so much money now!"

"You bet on it?!"

"Duh!"

MePhone felt himself start to blush again. Was it really that obvious? Who was he kidding, of course it was. It was hard not to notice someone so confident going into Idiot Mode so quickly.

"Speaking of which," He muttered. "My thing for Cheesy is kind of the whole reason I'm here."

"I would be lying if I said I didn't expect that."

"Hush! Anyways, I have this plan, and I've been working out all the details for weeks now, but like I said, I feel held back by... whatever this is. It took a lot of guts to even show up to this place and Cheesy's not even here! Now I'm gonna have to work up those guts all over again!"

"A plan to ask him out?" Pickle raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"That sounds... really dramatic. And you're saying you've got plans for every possible outcome?"

"That's exactly what I said. Again, what about it?"

"I'm not expecting you to take my word on anything here, but that sounds a lot like... forcing things to happen? I dunno, I feel like it's kind of... what's the word... disingenuous, to plan something crazy with a million different branch-outs to it. And kinda weird and obsessive, but that's my opinion."

MePhone didn't know how to respond to that, so naturally, he got defensive.

"Well, do you have a better idea?" He asked accusingly.

"Um, no, but I guess I can give you some advice. Your love confession can be as mushy and dramatic as you want, but obsessing over the minute details isn't healthy."

"But I have a whole thing planned!"

"I get it, but think about it. Is your whole planned out thing necessary?"

MePhone didn't respond to that.

"Exactly," Pickle said smugly. "Go through with it if you want, but I know that it'll be less stressful if you just be yourself."
"That's so corny."

Pickle shrugged. "Well, it's more than Taco could ever do. I believe in you, dude!"

MePhone blinked. That was an oddly intelligent conversation for Pickle. Then he smiled.

"Thanks," He nodded at Pickle, then turned to the door. "I'll leave you alone now."

"Good luck!"