Dear Stranger

Chapter 7

A/N: Exceptionally, this chapter is written from JOEY'S POV! So don't get confused 😉
-----------------------------------------------------------
I knocked at Darren's door and almost immediately he opened. It was like he was waiting for me behind the door or something. "Hey buddy!" I greeted him and tapped his shoulder. He looked at me and breathes out "Hi". He seemed relieved I was here. And he looked awful, bothered and panicked. I walked in and moved to the living room. "Oh la la. Mister recieved a letter. Is that from your letter girl?" I asked with a smirk. The envelope was open so he probably read it already. I took it to look at the beautiful piece.

Whoever wrote that letter really cared, I could tell. It was very well-written, very lovely. The handwriting looked familiar but I couldn't quite get where I could have seen it. "Can I read it?" I asked. "Yeah... Yeah whatever" he mumbled. He was sitting on the armchair of the couch and examining his hands as if he was seeing them for the first time. He will start talking to me when he wants to, even if I ask him what's going on, so I guessed I had time to read that letter.

"Dear Iclemeyer,

I hope you're doing great! Sorry I took so much time to write back. I've been literally crawling under work! I hope this side of me will get better soon to be honest but won't lose hope about that!

I really have to say that having you is very nice. I get way too excited when I see one of your letter. That never fail to put a huge smile on my face. It's just likable to be able to say everything without having to fear about what I can or cannot say to that person because of their relation with you or I don't know... I don't even know if you can see what I mean, haha. Anyway, thanks for being you. Thanks for being my letter guy. And thanks for staying. That's quite nice!

I'm in a point in my life when I decided to stop caring about people who don't give a shit about me, and start to live life surrounded by the people who care. Cares about me and who I care about. Luckily, you're one of them. You're welcome. "Life is too short to give a fuck", my new motto.

What's up? That embarassing story was the absolute best. I can totally imagine you freaking out about this.

What's my best drunk story? Oh boy... Ok I got a good one. Just know that you can laugh, but never should you bring that story back. Ever. My friends already do that way too much. Okay so, one day when I was in college, I went out with a few of my friends and got drunk like never before. I was seriously wasted. I was living on the campus at the time, in a dorm. And I went back home, alone. I opened my door, and without even considering my surroundings, I just threw myself on the couch and started to sleep. I was woken up an hour after by a girl who informed me that I was in her dorm. She was right. You're welcome for the good laugh, my pleasure"

I stopped reading after this. I already heard that story. I looked up and frowned my eyes as I tried to focus on my goal: finding who told me this previously. "Man, I did something really bad" Darren suddenly said. He rubbed the back on his neck and looked at me. Still searching mentally, I answered "I had sex with uhm...with uuh-" "Y/N!" I almost screamed. That was y/n! It was her story!

"Uhm, yeah. How you do know? Did... did she tell you that?" Darren asked. He pulled me out of my mental conversation. "What ? No! Wait, wait... You slept with y/n?" I was totally confused. He apparently had no idea that y/n and the letter girl was the same person. Could I tell him? "Yeah! Gosh I'm so stupid! Do you think that ruins my chance with the letter girl? God, I feel like I cheated on her or something, we're not even dating. Fuck! Dammit!" he swore around the living room.

I thought about saying 'Actually you cheated on the girl you like with herself so I'm not sure she will mind' but I just stood there completely astonished. This couldn't be happening. They hate each other! How could they possibly like each other in these letters and hate each other in real life? "Joey, please say something" Darren huffed and put his hands on his hips, panicked. "I... I have to go to the bathroom" I managed to say before I ran to it.

I heard Darren say 'what'. I locked myself in the tiny room. My hands were shaking. What should I do? What should I do? I took out my phone and called the first person I thought of: Lauren. The ringing seemed like forever until...

"Heelloooo Richter, what's up?" I heard on the other line. "Lopez. 911" I whispered. "Don't joke with the 911. I'm watching Grey's Anatomy right now. This better be good" she warned. "This is huge, Lo. Fuck, we're in deep shit" I murmured. "Why are you talking so low ?" she asked. "I'm in Darren's bathroom" I admitted. "I didn't remember Darren having a bathroom rule like this..." she ironically said. "Anyway, spill it!" she added. "Can't tell you now. I need to tell you in person" I explained. This was insane. "Then why did you call? God you're annoying. You totally screwed up my Grey's marathon" she whined. She doesn't realize. "You can't even imagine. I'll come over after I handle Darren" I said. "You bet you're gonna come over! You can't say stuff like that and leave me without saying what the actual fuck is!" she shouted. "See ya" I breathe out and hang up.

I took a deep breath and went back to the living room. I sat with Darren and we talked for hours. I was trying to listen, but it was pretty hard. Should I tell him? Should I tell him that the girl he likes is actually the girl he hates in real life? He seemed so disappointed in himself though. I should probably tell him. Or tell them! I was pretty sure that y/n didn't know about this either. I didn't even know she was sending letters to people like Darren and I did!

I hang out with Darren until he was sick of me and went to bed and then I drove to Lauren's. As soon as the door was open, her tiny self, wrapped in an onesie, said "Spill it!".

I went in and sat on the couch with her and explained everything. How y/n sent a letter to Darren without knowing it was him, how Darren starts to fall for her, but how they hate each other everytime they see each other. I told her about how complicated it is, my doubts about telling them or not. "Wait wait... so I was right! Darren went to y/n to give her flowers!" she squealed, proud of herself. "What?" I asked confused.

"Darren went to y/n's with roses, surely to meet his letter girl, but he fell on y/n instead and he left" she explained. "So you're saying that Darren showed up with roses to y/n's building, she saw him, and none of them understood?" I asked just to be sure. "Yep" Lauren pinched her lips. "They're dumb" I said and crunched my face. "They're dumb" she confirmed with a nod.

After a few seconds of silence, she asked "So, what are we doing? Do we tell them?". I bit my lip nervously. Fuck. "If we tell them now, they are going to stay on the hate part" I guessed. "They are definitely made for each other. This whole story proves it. And you're right. Maybe we should try to make them at least stand each other. Then we tell them, so they could at least consider it" Lauren proposed. I thought about it. It seemed to be our best option, not that we had a lot of choices anyway. "Deal" we shaked hands. Let's try this out.