Temporary Bliss [boyxboy]

2: The Job Debate

It was a few days later, when I finally got a response from someone regarding my job application.
It was some guy from the club - or bar, that was called something so generic, that I couldn't even remember it.

He called me, and invited me to come to a job interview the next day.
I was happy, but nervous as all hell.

"Caleb!," I called, trotting down the stairs that led right to the living room, "Guess what?"

"What?," I heard him ask.
"I got a job interview."
I looked around, until I saw him sitting on the floor right in front of the couch, leaning his back against it. He was staring at his phone, scrolling through Tumblr.

"Ah, cool. Where?"
"This bartending job. I think the club is called... I don't know, Killer or some shit like that."

"You mean Deadly, I assume?"

"Same difference," I said with an eyeroll, "What kind of name is that anyways? But, yeah, I have a job interview there tomorrow."

Caleb just hummed in response and I wasn't entirely sure why, but I was a little annoyed at the fact that he seemed so disinterested in this whole thing.
I mean, yeah, it wasn't that exciting, but he could've at least said something along the lines of "Hey, great!," or, "Cool, man. Good luck!"

He had say "ah, cool", but those two words along with the monotone he had said them in, didn't make me feel like he was happy for me at all.

"What's your problem with this?," I asked quietly, sitting down next to him.
"There is no problem," he just mumbled while typing out a text to someone.

I let out an exasperated sigh, "Are you serious right now? Caleb, I've known you for, what, nine or ten years? I know exactly that this is bothering you but I would like to understand why."

He rolled his eyes, "It's not bothering me."
"How dumb do you think I am?"

"Dunno, pretty dumb."

"Caleb Aaron," I said sternly. He knew I was serious when I called him both of his names. It made me feel weird, though, like a parent or something.

"Finn William," he retorted stubbornly.
"Just tell me what's up," I said pleadingly (which, admittedly, might have been a little pathetic), "I hate when you're mad at me and I don't know why. Just talk to me."

"I just... I don't like the idea of you getting a job.", he finally said after a short period of silence.
"But... Why not?," I asked, confused.

"I don't fucking know!," Caleb raised his voice, locking his phone and throwing it up onto the couch, "I just don't want you to be gone all the time because I like being here with you and I hate being here alone and I hate when you're not here."

Well, that was a mess, I thought.

"But look - I'm not gonna be gone all the time. Just a couple days a week, because as you said, I don't really need the money all that much. I'd probably be working at night mostly anyway - that is if I even get the job."

"That's even worse," Caleb said quietly. During the day there's other people and-"

"Well, get your girlfriend to stay over then. I really don't see the problem here," I said, getting a little agitated.

Caleb never really was around me except when we ate or whatever, but we weren't exactly glued to each other. Of course, we were friends and living together so we were bound to spend time with each other, but it was mostly him and his girlfriends.

As soon as he didn't have one, or they weren't around, I came into play.

But all of a sudden, now that I wanted to get a job - maybe make some new friends there - he was trying to make me feel guilty for not spending time with him. I just didn't understand.

"Why are you getting mad?"

"Im not mad. I'm just irritated because you never really pay attention to me unless you're bored, and now I can't get a job because you don't want to be alone? How does that work out?"

"I never said that you couldn't get a job. Of course you can. You're the one that wanted to bring this up. You made me talk about it. I'm not trying to stop you," my best friend said quietly.

I hated it so much when he spoke like that. He sounded so sad and vulnerable and I just wanted to give him a hug.
He was doing this on purpose, though, I knew he was. He was trying to make me feel bad.
And it was working.

I stayed silent for a little while, finally getting up and mumbling a "whatever", before going back upstairs.

---

I turned the shower faucet on, waiting for the water to get hot.
Showers were my solution to all of life's problems.
They relaxed me and I got to do a lot of great thinking in there. Plus, they made me smell great.

I got in the shower as soon as the water temperature was bearable, immediately soaking my dark-blonde hair with it. I rubbed my hands over my face, washing it.

I breathed out loudly, being more stressed out about the whole job thing than I should have been.

Why was Caleb acting like this? I loved him to bits and I knew he loved me just as much.
We'd been inseparable since middle school. We had barely ever fought, so this minor disagreement was getting to me more than any usual fight with someone, because this wasn't usual at all.

I wasn't sure how I was going to approach Caleb after this. I felt the overwhelming need to aplogize because of the way he'd looked at me with his stupidly beautiful, brown eyes, all sad and hurt.

Somewhere, in the back of my head, I knew exactly that I shouldn't be the one apologizing at all. Caleb was clearly in the wrong here, even from an objective point of view.

I finished washing my hair and then just stood under the warm water, eyes closed, for a few minutes until I turned off the faucet and got out of the shower.

I dried off, rubbing my hair with the towel only briefly, deciding I'd just let it air-dry.

I wrapped the bigger towel around my hips, opening the bathroom door and walking toward my room.

A voice behind me, made me stop, though.
"Finn?"
I turned around, my face expressionless as I looked at Caleb.

He came up to to me and just hugged me.
Yeah, it was a little awkward, seeing a I was basically naked, but then again, I didn't care that all that much.

"M'sorry," he mumbled into my shoulder. I could feel his warm breath on my skin, and that made it erupt in goosebumps for some reason.

"S'fine."

I was glad that Caleb was coming to apologize, though. I knew we both didn't want to fight.

"You okay?," Caleb asked with a chuckle after he had pulled out of the hug, noticing the goosebumps that covered my body.
"Yeah, just a little cold," I said quickly, "I should probably get some clothes."

"Sounds like a plan," Caleb smiled and jokingly winked at me.
I rolled my eyes, finally going into my bedroom, closing the door behind me.

Okay.