Rewind Reverie

Fruity Lemon Tea

I take longer than I should to figure out if I want to wear my black hoodie before heading downstairs.  It sounds very Victorian of me to determine if it's appropriate for a man I'm not dating to see my bare shoulders.  Plus, it's just shoulders.  Not like I'm showing him the boob while sliding down a shiny silver pole.  On the other hand,  I should probably just throw on real clothes but I'm still exhausted from dinner with my parents.  So, I put the hoodie on and roast myself for being so damn modest.

I hop into my black slip-on shoes before opening the front door.  Sure enough, Ari is standing there, shivering from the cold, night air.  Without a word, I gesture for him to come in.  I can't exactly insist that he go home without warming up first.

 "Just a call would have been okay."  I shake my head, unable to hold back that grin.  "Besides, don't you live out in the northern suburbs?  This is way out of your way, isn't it?

"I live in Ellison, which is practically still the city," he points out.  "It's only ten minutes from my house to yours when traffic's light."

"Gotcha."  I close the door as Ari plops onto the couch.  "Just so you know, both my roommates are both gone for the weekend so you can't stay too long."

Ari smirks and I immediately regret saying that.  "What they doesn't know won't hurt them."

"You want a fat lip?" He manages to dodge the cushion I throw at him.  "I know you did not come all the way here just to get a rise out of me."

"No, but it's so much fun to do.  And you're so cute when you're annoyed with me."

"You might want to be nice to me, sir."

"I'm always nice to you!"

"Yeah, but you really need to nice to me because dinner with my parent sucked."

Concern marks Ari's features.  "That bad?"

"It's worse, so knock it off."  He tries to dodge all the swipes I take at him, but I get in a few hits.  "Otherwise you can go right back home."

"Okay, fine, you win."  I don't know what I won, but I'm glad to hear that I did.  "Now come to couch and tell me what happened."

I press my lips together.  "Do I have to?"

"Finn, I sneaked out of my house because I was worried about you.  Don't let it flop." 

 I press my lips even harder.  He chuckles because I'm pouting so hard.  "You did that, not me."

"I know, I know."  I am defeated.  "Now, please, tell me what happened.

"What's there to tell?"  We both walk back to the couch, plopping down on either side.  I rest my back on the arm as I hug my knees to my chest, grabbing a nearby cushion to squeeze.  "It went down the way that I thought it would.  My mom told me that I should forgive Wesley and take him back and I told her that he can kick rocks and to stop taking his calls."

"You said all that?"  He looks surprised.  I guess he would be.  "Like, word for word."

"Yeah, word for word.  Maybe not those exact words, definitely the kind of words that would make a vein pop in my mom's neck."

"Damn."  Air shakes he head as his lips twitch up and down.  Like he's trying to hold back his laughter or something.  "That's amazing. Still, I'm surprised you'd go that far with your parents."

"Is that a nice way of saying that I'm usually their doormat?"  I've shocked him silent.  There's no point in beating around the bush.  "It's okay if you tell me the truth.  I can take it."