Love Starts Out in the Darkness

Part 1

"Goddammit!" Lindsey cursed aloud.

Holding a pizza box in one hand, which was starting to burn his palm, he was trying to get the keys out of his pocket. The keychain got caught in the material and the sound of him struggling brought out a curious elderly neighbor into the hallway. 

"Is everything alright, dear?"

"Fine, Mrs. Wilson. I'm just fine." Lindsey forced a smile as he looked back over his shoulder.

"Maybe I could help? Would you like me to hold-"

"No!" Lindsey yelled out, immediately feeling like an asshole. "Sorry, I didn't mean to yell. It's just- ah!" Fucking finally! He jiggled the keys in the air. "All good now, thanks." 

Not wanting Mrs. Wilson to believe that he was interested in a chat, Lindsey unlocked his apartment and stepped inside. A heavy sigh of relief escaped him as he set his dinner down on the coffee table in the living room. He grabbed the TV remote and turned it on, mainly to fill up the silence in his home. At least it was Friday night, which meant he had managed to get through another workweek and was about to have two glorious days of doing absolutely nothing.

Having changed into a T-shirt and sweatpants, Lindsey went to the kitchen and straight to the fridge for a bottle of cold beer. Guzzling almost half of it down on his way, he returned to the living room and slumped down on the couch. Switching from channel to channel, he opened the pizza box and picked up a slice.

"Christ..." Lindsey breathed out deeply, annoyed as he looked down at his shirt, a drop of sauce on his chest. 

15 minutes later and with most of the pizza gone, Lindsey leaned back against the couch, beer in his hand, feet up on the table. Was this how everyone lived? When did coming home and locking himself away from the rest of the world become his favorite form of leisure time? He used to have hobbies, he used to have friends to enjoy them with. Sure, he still had friends, but most of them had husbands and wives, kids. Hobbies? Sometimes he picked up a book or a piece of paper and a pencil to draw, but that was pretty much it. Love life? Hm... better not go there.

"Why don't you try those dating apps? What if you find someone you actually like?" Lindsey laughed in his friend's face when he suggested that. Dating apps were for young people who were only looking for a great time. He might have been acting old lately, but he had just turned 30. Didn't he want to have some fun, too?

No. No, this is stupid.

Lindsey flipped through the channels again, attempting to find something watchable. However, his eyes shifted to his phone, lying on the couch beside him. A couple of minutes passed and he was staring at the screen, waiting for the app to download. 

"Alright, let's see." Lindsey spoke out loud into the empty apartment.

Name. Should he go with his real name? Oh, what the hell. Lindsey. Age. No point in lying about that, 30. Profile picture, uhhh. Lindsey opened up the gallery, quickly realizing that there weren't too many options. Another issue with the picture was that he didn't really want anyone from his life to accidentally stumble upon his profile. He finally found one he liked, thinking that nobody could immediately identify him, but it would still give a pretty good idea of what he looked like. He could just share more in the chats, right? What am I looking for, Lindsey had to think about it. What was he actually looking for? A one-night stand? He doubted he would do well with that. A serious relationship? Well, no, not really. Ask and find out, he almost made himself nauseous while typing that. Interests. Swimming, reading, drawing, at least he didn't have to think about that one too hard.

Done.

Wondering why on earth he had decided to do that, Lindsey got up on his feet to go grab another bottle. He was probably not going to open the app ever again.

~

AN: Hi all! Here's a short intro to another story, AU this time. I wonder who's out there, just as bored and lonely. Hope you like it ♥