Denial

Chapter Seven: A Smile Goes a Long Way

Quincy

I was almost certain that Reed absolutely hated me.

Granted, he told me that I was beautiful and that I had pretty eyes (at least that's what Kevin told me he had said after Reed stormed out of the apartment this morning). But then he tells me he didn't mean any of it, which was probably just him rebuilding the part of his wall that he had knocked out last night.

And when that wall goes up, so does his mask of hatred.

I just no longer knew if his hatred for me was real or part of the mask. It was probably more of the real hatred than masked hatred, with my luck.

"Let's go out to breakfast." Kevin's voice cut through my thoughts, making me jump. I didn't even know he was still here.

I looked up from my place on the couch with my knees tucked into my chest to see my roommate walking into the living room. "I don't have money for that, Kev," I said, shaking my head.

"I'm buying. You need to get out of here. Besides, I never see you actually eat anything. And don't think I haven't noticed that none of the food in this place is yours. Seriously, what's up with that?"

I just shrugged in response. I didn't want to get into those details with him. "I have work at 12, though."

"So I'll drop you off if it gets that late. Come on."

I sighed, getting to my feet. I knew there was no use arguing with him about this. At least now I knew I would get to eat decently today.

~

Kevin ended up having to drop me off at work after the best meal I've had in a long time: eggs, bacon, hash browns, and a slice of toast. It was pretty amazing. I was actually surprised that I ate it all, too.

It was really nice, not even counting the food part. Kevin and I haven't really talked much in the last couple of weeks. It was good to catch up with him again.

And he took my mind off Reed for a while, which I think I really needed today.

I was about an hour or so into my shift when Chloe arrived for hers. It took another half an hour for the line to die down so that we actually had a chance to talk.

And I knew exactly what, or who, rather, that she was going to ask about before she even opened her mouth.

"So how's your plan to get the handsome Spanish boy?"

I rolled my eyes. "It's not going anywhere except backwards." I sighed. "Although we slept together last night."

She gasped and I realized the double meaning behind my words. "How is that backwards?"

I shook my head. "No, I did not have sex with him. Although I wish. I haven't actually had sex in months!" I sighed. "It was just sleeping."

I then started explaining everything that happened with Reed last night and this morning, which ended up taking about an hour to get through the whole story because waves of people kept coming in and we had jobs to do, unfortunately.

When I finally finished, Chloe slapped my arm, which actually kind of hurt. "He does not hate you, Quincy. Don't say that."

I rubbed my arm, trying to take the sting out of it. "I'm starting to think I should just give up. There'll be other guys." But did I really want a different guy? I wasn't sure anymore.

"Quincy, I have listened to you gush over this guy for weeks. Plus the fact that you went back into the closet for him? I think you're really serious about him. You can't back out now. When have you ever been a quitter?"