Sleeping With Death

Four: Awkward

The next day when I came back from work, Daniel was sitting on the couch eating a bowl of mac n cheese that was easy to make. You just shoved it into the microwave technically. The first five times, he forgot to put water in them so I had to teach him that part too... Because of yesterday's incident, there was a sort of awkwardness in the air.

"Hey..." Daniel said, not looking at me.

"Hi," I greeted back and went to my room to change.

I put on a white shirt with Mickey Mouse on it, and black skinny jeans. I came back out into the living room and sat on the couch next to him. Daniel seemed to flinch from that. I picked up the remote and turned the TV on. It was automatically on the Discovery Channel.

"So..." Daniel watched the screen,"Did you ever decide to quit your job or not?"

I shrugged,"I think I should keep it, I like having something to do."

Daniel nodded. His cheeks were a slight shade of pink. His blue eyes slightly glanced over at me but when he seen that I was looking at him, he began to look around the room like he wasn't just glancing over at me. He focused back on the TV but I could tell how awkward he was feeling.

"Smoke?" I asked.

Daniel got up,"Good idea." He said as he pulled a lighter out of his pocket and grabbed a box of his cigarettes off the coffee table. He grabbed two- One for me and one for him, and we went out to the balcony.

I inhaled the smoke, it felt so nice. When I exhaled, it felt like new air. 

"So things are awkward," Daniel started,"I'm so s-"

"Don't be," I said and leaned on him,"I liked it."

Daniel looked confused for a second but he put his arms around me and gave me a hug,"You're perfect." He whispered to me.

I smiled at him and kissed his cheek. We cuddled on the couch and watched animals attack people. It was warm and comfortable. He was so beautiful. Everything he did made me smile or laugh. I was comfortable with him.

"Charlie."

"Hm?" I opened my eyes. 

Why do I always fall asleep around him?

"Charlie, look at what I did..."

I sat up, Daniel wasn't sitting by me. I looked around and then see him standing at the glass doors. His hand was on the glass and he was staring at something outside. The look on his face was shock and fear entangled together. 

"Daniel?" I approached his frozen body,"What?"

I looked outside the glass, there was nothing on the balcony. I didn't understand what he was so upset about. I studied the outside. It was normal. The sun was setting in the horizon and the sky was orange, pink, and a dark indigo. There were birds flying across the sky and the city seemed calm and innocent.

I looked at him,"Daniel what is your problem?"

"Why don't you see it?!" He yelled at me, getting aggressively angry,"Look!" He pointed at an apartment complex that was a little shorter than the one we stayed in.

I squinted, trying to see what he saw. Then I seen it.

Swinging underneath a balcony, there was a bunch of blankets tied together and a guy hanging. 

Dead.

"You?" I looked at him, wide eyed,"How would you be able to kill a guy that's all the way over there?"