The Best Things Happen When You Least Expect Them

Alone Time

Over the course of the next couple of days, David found that Natalie had been right about how there were always people around at the house. He assumed that it had simply never bothered him, but it was true. When he came out of his bedroom, normally around what his mother would've called lunch time, there were always people around already, lounging in the living room, filming mukbangs at their high table or food reviews on the kitchen counter. One of the reasons it had never bothered him, and still didn't do so, was because these people deliberately created content for his vlog by just being there and being willing to be filmed. These were the fillers, opening or closing jokes of his videos. Spontaneous quibbles and situations between his friends. These days, they were also the reason why David and Natalie never had a moment alone in their home, and a not insignificantly large part of him was relieved by that.

But there were also other people around and David was definitely bothered by them. Actually, there was one specific one: Cassandra, Natalie's friend. David was not entirely sure where she had gotten from and how Natalie and she ended up spending every single second together. All he knew was that she was there and that, unlike the other people who were at his house 24/7, she was no living and breathing content. Because she didn't want to be filmed, hence she was not exactly his favorite person to be surrounded with. Before, this hadn't bothered him too much. He had respected her decision especially because he wanted Natalie to have some parts of her life only to herself. If Cassandra was filling this void, be it so. But now was after what had happened, and it was after the realization regarding his changed attitude towards Natalie, or whatever it was, that had followed. Now, Cassandra was not just annoying because he had to go out of his way to not film her, but she was annoying because of something she did and that hadn't been noticed by him before: she shielded Natalie. When she came over, Natalie was not just occupied, but often they would disappear in her room or leave the house altogether. The others never isolated Natalie like that. They prevented situations in which David would've had to confront himself, and Natalie, with his newfound feelings on a level he was not ready for yet, but still she was always there. Cassandra made her go away, disappear from his eyesight, and David was not a fan of that.

David was also not a fan of the looks Cassandra was giving him lately. They were sharp and knowing, and David was afraid they meant that Natalie had told her oh so best friend about what had happened between them. At that he could not help but feel a little betrayed, after all he hadn't told anyone and also thought that if they wanted to discuss this, they should maybe start discussing it with each other before they involved other people. If Natalie had told her, she was obviously sure that she was not going to tell other people in their friend group, but that was another of David's concerns. What about Ilya? He still wasn't entirely sure what to think about that whole situation, torn between guilt and jealousy, of both he knew how uncalled for they were. Compared to dealing with Ilya, even sorting things out with Natalie seemed the better option for now. And so, he had decided that he would have to talk to her. Was he going to confess his feelings or anything? Of course not. A part of him still hoped that all this was nothing but a crush, resulting from the tension that had built up in his groin during his year of abstinence. But still he needed to know where they stood with each other. For pragmatic reasons only, of course.

With everyone at the house and never a minute alone, this was more easily said than done. David needed to catch her somewhere else, but the reason had to be mundane enough. He hated himself for the solution he came up with but called Dom anyway. Two hours later he was at his old apartment, ignoring the omnipresent filth and general bad state the furniture was in. This place had obviously never been an architectural masterpiece, the only natural light in the rooms coming from too small windows and shining on too many things that should've been left in the dark. David drew his attention away from them and on to his Macbook that he had brought with him, since he didn't know exactly when Natalie was going to come. He had told her that she needed to come to Dom's because of a bit that he wanted to shoot there. He had not told her that Dom was not at home, in fact he wasn't sure where Dom actually was. He had always kept his key, since the apartment was technically his, but after Alex had moved in with his girlfriend, he found that he had less and less reason to be here. All of them had to face the fact that Dom's life was not becoming easier to watch from the outside, one wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. Natalie had had some extra awkward run-ins with their former schoolmate, thinking about them in Jason and Joe's Vlog made David regret having told her to come here, of all places.