Don't Bother Being Loved

Steve

"Mum are we going to that party?" I asked, walking into the kitchen.
"Oh god no, that thing was hours ago." My mum laughed. That's my mum, always making plans and never showing up to things. I shook my head and just laughed, I walked up to the refrigerator and opened it, and grabbed a soda.
"Ari, you shouldn't drink those all the time." My mum scolded. I shrugged and slammed the top of the bottle on the edge of the counter. The cap popped right off and I took a swig.
"And don't do that either! You'll ruin the countertop!" Mum laughed as I chugged the soda. My dad rolled his eyes and chuckled.
"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, huh Margaret?" My dad joked with my mum, nudging her arm.
"Well it's surely not my tree, now is it!" She laughed.
"What are you talking about? You used to open bottles with your teeth when I first met you!" My dad exclaimed.
I smiled and shook my head, and threw the empty soda bottle in the garbage.
"Oh Ari, will you take the garbage out to the big trash downstairs?" My mum asked.
"Sure" I replied and grabbed the garbage bag, tied it up, and slung it over my shoulder like a unhappy, frightening Santa Claus. I opened up the door and walked out, the place where they kept the bin for everyone in the apartment complex was directly next to the front of the stairs so I just dropped the trash bag from where I was standing. And off it went, straight into the bin. I was about to walk back inside but I felt like someone was behind me, possibly watching what I was doing. I turned around and saw a guy with fluffy brown hair, he was leaning on the railing and smoking a fag. He was wearing a shirt with a picture of some girl's tits on it. Lovely, I had that shirt as well.
"Hi" I said quietly. He flashed a smile at me.
"Hello" he said. He ran a hand through his hair, which only made it more fluffy.
"I like your shirt. I have it as well." I chuckled.
"Oh nice. I guess we must shop at the same place." He smiled.
"Yeah I guess we must. I'm friends with that bird Debbie. Y'know her right?" I asked.
"Oh yeah, she's nice." He smiled, and took another puff of his fag.
"Did you just move in?" He asked.
"Yeah, a week ago. I still have a shit load of stuff to unpack." I chuckled.
"Oh cool. I'm Steve, I live on the floor above this one." He replied.
"So why are you down here?" I asked.
"I needed to bum a fag off of this guy." He said, pointing to the front door.
"Oh, who's that?" I asked, walking closer to him so I was closer to the door.
"You wanna meet him?" He smiled. I shrugged. Oh well, I don't really know Steve or whoever this guy I was about to meet is, but hey, if I get murdered I get murdered. Steve knocked on the door, which opened up almost immediately.
"I told you that was my last–" a man with very dark hair appeared, wearing all black, and his hair was slicked back.
"Who's that?" He pointed to me.
"Hi I'm Ari." I smiled and held out my hand. He shook it, and returned the smile.
"Dave, Dave Vanian. This is my flat." He chuckled.
"I like it, you don't turn any lights on I see?" I asked.
"Light isn't very fun" he laughed, "besides, I sleep a lot anyway so I almost never turn on lights."
"Ooh I like the Nosferatu types." I giggled.
"That's good. We should sleep hanging upside down together sometime." He joked, making me giggle even more. Steve smiled at both of us.
"So Dave, what's new since the last five minutes I saw you?" Steve asked.
"I'm just..tired, nothing much has changed. What's new in the world on Mr. Jones hmm?" He asked.
"Well I just met this" he said, pointing to me. I laughed and playfully slapped his arm.
"Nice. Is she..y'know" he began to ask, winking at Steve. Steve giggled and shrugged. I raised an eyebrow at both of them.
"Am I what?" I asked, folding my arms.
"Are you single?" Steve blurted out. My eyes went wide, I felt heat rise up to my cheeks. You've got to be fucking joking.
"I've got a boyfriend." I said. Steve shrugged and Dave began to laugh.
"Alright, just asking. I'll get you someday." He said. I rolled my eyes and laughed.
"Well alright loves, I gotta go, wicked tired. See you two later. Bye Ari!" Dave said happily. We both waved back at him and he closed the front door.
"Nice guy." I said, walking back to my flat.
"Yeah, he's cool." Steve said, he shuffled his feet as we walked.
"So you're dating someone?" He asked. I sighed a little and faced him.
"Yes. His name is Paul." I said, getting annoyed.
"Paul what?"
"Simonon, why?" I raised an eyebrow.
"You're dating Paul?" He asked, laughing.
"Uh..yeah?" I said, growing more and more annoyed.
"He's a good friend of mine." He smiled. I nodded as we continued to walk slowly to my flat.
"This is my flat." I said, pointing the door we were in front of.
"Oh okay. Come hang out with me sometime. I live in the 3rd apartment on the left side upstairs." He smiled.
"Alright, see you later, Steve." I smiled back.
"Bye, Ari." He said. He walked away quickly but looked back, I waved at him and he waved back. I opened up the door and greeted my parents before walking to my room and getting on the phone with Paul. Hopefully I'll see him tonight.