Eugene x Andrew

Chapter 6 - Dinner?

"What the hell? Where are they?" Eugene muttered in annoyance, glancing around the floor near him. He began to walk around the room, searching in vain for his clothes. Where the fuck are they? he thought to himself, quickly growing aggitated. He spun around and checked behind the clothes rack again. Andrew's clothes weren't there, either.

"What the hell, Andrew..." Eugene grumbled. He leaned back on his heels and ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. He stood there for a moment, contemplating several scenarios that flitted around in his brain before coming to a conclusion.

Finally he sighed, took one last glance at the spot where their clothes should be, and then left the room. He returned to his computer, saved his work, shut down the computer, grabbed his bag and keys and then left the building.

He removed his phone from his pocket and went to Google Maps, hoping to find Andrew's address in his recent searches (there had been a work party held at Andrew's place the other week).

Eugene stopped at the passenger door of his car, selected Andrew's address and then the option for directions. He unlocked his car, tossed his bag on the passenger's seat, closed the door and then went around to the driver's side.

The lady's voice from his phone gave the first instructions for where he was to turn as he left the parking lot. Within twenty minutes, he was parked across the street from Andrew's house.

"This is stupid, Eugene. Just go home. The clothes aren't that important," he mumbled, nearly inaudible to even his own ears. But what if he did take them? he wondered.

Eugene titled his head back and looked at the ceiling of his car, still wrestling in his mind if he should go knock on Andrew's door or if he should just drive home and forget about it.

After a few moments he reached forwards and removed the keys from the ignition. He pocketed them as he got out of the car, and then locked the car by pushing the button on the door just before he closed it.

Glancing both ways, Eugene trotted across the street and walked up the little sidewalk to Andrew's front door. He looked at the lawn, and its lack of flowers or bushes. I forgot how bland his yard is.

Taking a deep breath, Eugene stared at the door in front of him. This simple barrier seemed infinitely larger than him, and he couldn't bring himself to knock. He stood there for a few minutes, doing nothing. He glanced around and watched a car drive by.

"People must think I'm crazy," he said aloud, trying hard to fight his nerves. "You can do this. Just knock on his door– it's a simple task," he tried to pep-talk himself. So then why is this task so hard to do?

Before he could answer his own thought, the door opened and he met Andrew face-to-face.

Andrew glanced up and jumped back a little, clearly startled. "Jesus, Eugene!"

Eugene's eyes widened and he took a small step back. "Uh, Andrew. Hey." His palms felt sweaty. This was a bad idea.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

This question brought Eugene's thoughts back to what it was he had come here to get.

"I'm looking for my clothes," he said, almost in an authorative tone.

Andrew made a face of confusion. "And why would they be here?" he asked.

"Because your clothes weren't there, either."

"What?"

"My clothes were gone when I went to get them, and so were yours."

"So where are they?" Andrew inquired, still standing in the doorway and blocking Eugene's entrance.

"I thought you would know," Eugene answered.

"I had planned to just get them in the morning tomorrow. Show up earlier than everyone else, so it wouldn't be noticeable."

Eugene stood there and narrowed his eyes at the ground, thinking hard.

After a moment of neither of them speaking, Andrew cleared his throat. "I was, uh, I was about to go get something to eat. Are you hungry?" He looked at Eugene's face, trying to read his expression.

"Are you getting pizza?" Eugene asked, softening his expression from contemplation to delight.

"Uh, sure. Where do you want it from?" Andrew asked somewhat quietly, afraid that Eugene still thought he'd taken their clothes. He couldn't tell if Eugene was mad at him or not; or if he was even mad at all.

"Anywhere is fine," Eugene said. "I love pizza," he smiled.

Andrew gave a quick, somewhat forced smile in return. "Alright. Do you want to take your car, or..?" He trailed off, not sure what exactly he was offering.

"Uh, sure. Yeah. It's right over here," Eugene answered, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb. "I know this great pizza place, if you wanna get the best pizza you'll ever eat," he suggested as they crossed the street.

"Sounds good," Andrew answered as he got into the passenger seat. He sat there for a moment, his heart pounding. Why would he bother showing up, even if he thought I had the clothes? He could have just asked me about it at work tomorrow, Andrew thought to himself as he buckled his seatbelt.

Eugene started the engine, and then they were on their way to the place with the 'best pizza they would ever eat'.

When they arrived, Eugene was heartbroken to discover that the place was too packed for them to eat at the restaurant (unless they wanted to wait over an hour), so they ordered a pizza to go and waited for only twenty minutes instead. Andrew sat in the passenger seat and held the pizza box as Eugene drove back to Andrew's place; he parked his car in the same spot he had before.

Andrew handed the pizza over to Eugene once they got to the front door so he could fish his keys out of his pocket to unlock the door. He stepped in and motioned for Eugene to come in as well. He closed the door behind Eugene, and then took the pizza box back as they walked into his house.

Kicking off his shoes, he told Eugene to do the same, and then they walked into the dining room area, Eugene trailing behind.

"Here, I'll go get some plates," Andrew offered as he set the box onto the table.

Eugene, unable to wait, opened the box and removed a slice. He was a couple bites in when Andrew returned carrying two plates and some napkins.

"Well, uh, here's you're plate," he said as he held one out to Eugene. Eugene thanked him and placed his slice onto the plate. "What would you like to drink?" Andrew asked, putting a couple slices onto his plate.

"Anything's fine," Eugene answered.

"I have some beer, if you want any," Andrew suggested. Bad idea. Don't bring alcohol into this, Andrew.

"Sure, beer sounds great," Eugene smiled.

"I'll be right back, then," Andrew said, setting his plate onto the table. He padded off into his kitchen, walked over to the refrigerator and removed two beers. You're so dead if you get drunk, Andrew, he scolded himself. Well, we'll just hope that neither of us get drunk. I'll just monitor our drinking, he concluded to himself as he returned to the dining room.

Andrew handed Eugene his beer, and then sat down at the table with his own. They cracked open their beers and began drinking.