Hold Each Other

Take a Break

John walked into his apartment, looking forward to a few hours of alone time. 

Having this in mind, it made him very disappointed to see Alex. 

"Did you even go to your classes?" John asked, setting down his bag and slipping off his shoes. Alex turned in his chair. "Yes. But I only have one class today. I like to think of it as my day off." He quickly turned back to his laptop.

"Yet you're still working?" John shook his head. "More importantly, you're still just sitting at your desk? Do you ever go out and do anything?" He asked, a little annoyed.

"Yeah. I usually stop for coffee before and after classes, but now that we have a coffee maker, I will no longer have to... what are you doing?" Alex asked, watching as John unplugged the coffee maker. 

"I'm selling this. You need to get out more. Live."

"Are you kidding? I just got here! And you don't understand just how important my work is to me! Once summer rolls around, I'll be out all the time! Please, John." 

John's eye twitched slightly at Alex using his name. 

"Alex, I wouldn't care who you were. If you were my mother, or Oprah. I don't just let people I know stay cooped up in their room all day and never see the sunlight. Come on, go for a walk or something. There's a park just down the street! We could play a game of basketball or–"

"I don't do sports..." Alex mumbled.

"Ok..." John mumbled, irritated. "Then we can just go and sit and talk. I still know nothing about you." 

"Look, that sounds great, and I would really love to get to know you. But this is extremely important work and if I put it aside for too long then I may never finish it."

"Well I'm not asking you to stop working for a week. We'll only be gone an hour or so." John sat on his bed, exhausted from the fight. If Alex said no again, he'd probably just accept it. Alex could sit at his desk for the whole year, and get fat and–

"Alright." Alex sighed. "Just for a bit." 

John's head shot up. "Really?" 

"Yeah. Let's go." He stood up, closing his laptop. 

John quickly stood, grabbing his phone and keys. "Okay!"

The two walked out of the apartment in silence. John was excited though, unlike Alex, who's eyes were drooping and glued to the ground. He was either extremely bored, or still not caught up on his sleep. It most likely both. After exiting the apartment building, they made their way up the street. They kept a good distance between themselves, and didn't look at each other unless they were sure the other wasn't looking. 

John cleared his throat. "So, uh. Alex..." Alex looked over at John, an eyebrow raised in curiosity. 

"You uh..." John wasn't quite sure what he actually wanted to say. He just wanted to end the awkward silence. John saw Alex watching him and quickly looked away, his cheeks turning a light pink. 

"You write?" John asked. 'What a dumb question... Of course he writes.'

"Yes!" Suddenly Alex's eyes were wide and he was full of energy. "I've been writing since I was a kid. Writing is how I got here. I love to write. I just feel like I can let myself go; I can be honest, and say everything on my mind." 

"Yeah. I can see why you like it so much. I've never been much of a writer." John chuckled to himself. 

"You don't have to be good at writing to write. You just do it!" Alex exclaimed, looking at John with such intensity, John stopped walking. Before he could say anything though, Alex spoke up again.