You || Krii7y

7. Hostility

The next morning Jaren wakes up and instantly checks his phone to see if John has texted him. Turning it on, all he sees are Twitter and Instagram notifications. Nothing from John.

Jaren frowns. He'd thought he would at least text him about his date and let him know how it had gone. Anytime anything significant happened, John would let him know instantly. Jaren feels the paranoia trickle in. Was he okay? Had he gotten home safe?

He tries to shake it off but he can't. So he does the only thing he can to put his mind at rest: he calls John.

The phone rings and where it would normally be answered by an excited John within two rings, Jaren is still left nervously waiting after a painful six rings before he finally picks up.

"Hello?" His voice sounds out of it.

"Johnny! How was your date?"

"Good. She's nice."

Jaren waits for his friend to tell him more but silence proceeds, instantly stretching miles between them. His face falls. They'd never had a silent second in their phone calls and Jaren finds it odd that those three words are all John had to offer him. Normally he can't get him to shut up after a question like that - he'd give him such a detailed recount that Jaren would feel like he'd actually been there. He decides not to make it obvious that he'd noticed the curt nature of John's answer.

"Cool. Um.. so do you want to maybe come over today?" he offers, hoping to get rid of the horrid awkwardness descending on them. He doesn't like this.

"Not today, I'm going out with Kasey."

Jaren lifts one eyebrow until he remembers John can't see him. "Again?"

"Yeah, again. Is there something wrong with that?" He can feel the hostility radiating from John's question. What the hell?

"No, of course not. I just thought it's a bit early to see her again when you've just seen her yesterday night, eager beaver," Jaren snickers, trying to lighten the mood.

"Well, she's practically my girlfriend, so I'm going to see her," John retorts defensively.

Jaren scoffs at his bluntness. "Alright, then. I'll see you around."

"Bye."

Jaren goes to hang up but John has already ended the call before he can even remove his phone from his ear. He turns it off and chucks it to the side, throwing his head back onto his pillow. What the fuck is up with him today? The John he knows is never like that, especially not to Jaren. He must've woken up on the wrong side of the bed.

Though John hadn't exactly gotten angry with him, Jaren feels a lump in his throat. What had he done? Yesterday was perfect and then John had to mess it up by being a dick. He hopes John gets himself out of this funk because this isn't like them.

***********************

Jaren doesn't know what he'd done to deserve the silent treatment but it persists. John doesn't speak to him for the rest of the day and he finds himself glancing at his phone every few minutes, expecting a call.

So when one does sound he pounces on his phone, accepting the call and putting it to his ear. "John?" he breathes, clutching the device.

"Wow, I'm offended that you wait for calls from Kryoz and not from me. I thought we were friends, Smii7y." It's Fitz's voice that comes through, falsely teary and not the one Jaren wanted to hear.

He sighs. "Sorry Fitz, I wasn't expecting you. What's up?"

"Not much, I just wanted to ask if you wanted to go to the party tomorrow night."

"Where?"

"I'll send you the address. It's at a girl's house."

"Okay." He debates whether he should ask Cameron the question on his mind. "Will John be there?"

"I haven't asked him. He might be busy." Yeah, with his 'girlfriend', Jaren thinks to himself.

"Alright, thanks Cam."

"Take care buddy. It starts at ten, if you come."

"Cool."

Jaren wonders if John will end up being there or if he really will be too busy. Actually, why does he care? If John can forget him so quickly it's only fair that he retaliates. He is going to go to the party and he is going to enjoy himself. Without John.

A nagging in the back of his mind tells him he should still wait for John to be, well, John again. There must be a reason for him snapping at Jaren. He must just be stressed about something. Yeah.

Jaren chuckles quietly at the back and forth of his thoughts. He watches Octavia come and sit by his feet, her curious eyes peering up at him. "Do you think I should go to the party, girly?" he says, gently grabbing her chin. She backs away and barks, her tail swaying. "That a 'yes' bark? Or a 'give me food' bark?"

She zips towards the kitchen and Jaren laughs as he follows. "I'll take it as both." He gives her her dinner and gets some pasta for himself. He sits cross-legged on his couch and tries to forget the day's events by drowning himself in cat videos and food. The best way to relax.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cats and food are great. That's all I have to say other than thank you for reading!

~LC