The Bestest Cuddle Buddy Ever

The Author is Not on a Roll But She's Got Puns

Two months later

I opened the door, setting my bag down in the hallway and kicking off my shoes.

"Hey Jack? You home?" I called down the hallway, not too loudly in case he'd decided to stream something. I had gone back to work about a month and a half ago, fully recovered from the flu and my fall. Jack took care of me the entire time; staying with me, making me food, watching TV with me. The only time I was really left alone was when he had to work, which was a lot of the time but his every free moment was spent with me. It made me feel bad but at the same time, I loved the attention. Things at work had changed too. Brandon absolutely hated my guts. He wouldn't talk to me unless it was to order me to do something beyond my job or to degrade me and the job I was doing. I had seen this before, he was trying to force me to quit. I thought that his bullshit wouldn't get to me, but when he embarrassed me in front of store management a couple of days earlier I almost walked out at that moment. Andy's business card was sitting on my dresser and in the back of my mind.

Things hadn't changed with Jay, he was still like a dog with a bone with me, so I was practically living at Jack's now. I slept on the couch most nights, took a shower here, and got ready for work in the bathroom. I usually left for work right as he was getting up and grabbing a cup of coffee from the pot I made for him each morning. Just for the record, Jack was adorable in the mornings, with his bed head and sleepy eyes. He'd stumble out of his room with a yawn, awakened by the smell of fresh, dirty bean water. He'd seek it out like a zombie to brains, then he'd lean with his back against the counter, cup in hand, silently watching me get ready for work. When he'd realized I'd noticed him staring, he would raise the mug in a silent salute and mumble a thanks with a morning voice that should be illegal. It created all these weird feelings and urges inside me, like the urge to wrap my arms around his bare waist and kiss his cheek before I left for work. I'd find my feet moving towards him once or twice before I caught myself and disguised it as grabbing a piece of fruit for breakfast. I don't think he ever noticed. By the time I usually left the apartment Jack was brewing a second pot and ambling towards his room to get dressed. It was all so disgustingly domestic, and it made my heart ache for what could never be.

I was home early; it had been a small store today; only five million dollars (worth of product. For a supermarket that's incredibly small, 5 million is usually a 6 hour day). Jack wasn't in the kitchen or living room and he didn't answer me when I called out again, so I dropped my backpack off by the couch and walked down the hallway in search of him. I was hungry but didn't want to eat at home. Maybe Jack would want to go get sushi? (if you don't like sushi I'm sorry but just roll with it for now. See what I did there?). Walking down the hallway I found he wasn't in his recording room, same with the bathroom and spare bedroom; all the doors wide open. I heard his voice speaking quietly in his bedroom, the door partially closed. He was probably on the phone, I'll ask him when he's not busy. I went to turn around.

"Yeah, I'll tell her tonight," I heard in a hushed tone, I froze; interest piqued. I turned back around and stared worriedly at the door. Was he talking about me? "Yeah Arin, I know what I said while I was there-" he paused as if someone cut him off, Arin I'm guessing. "No that's not why I stayed an extra week, I wasn't running away from her. I just needed some space, to think." He stopped again, sighing in irritation. "Yeah, I know how it sounds." My stomach folded itself into a Celtic knot and my limbs felt like setting Jell-O. He was talking about me, wasn't he? He was talking about those two weeks when he went to PAX and stayed out longer. Why was he running away from me? "What do you mean? I told you what happened: we got drunk, I told her, and she doesn't remember. I keep trying to find a way to tell her what we did, but I just can't find a good time," I saw him in the gap of the door. He strode from one side of the room, paused with his free hand tangled in his hair; staring at the blank wall. He turned around to pace back to the other side and I flattened myself against the wall so he wouldn't see me so blatantly eavesdropping. "Yeah, I know that there will never be a good time. I'm going to take her out tonight, tell her everything. I just can't take it anymore Arin," I heard a shattering sound and I was tempted to look around in search of it before the pain caught up with me and I realized that it was just my heart breaking. I couldn't listen to him anymore so I spun on my heel and walked back down the hallway.