i like you (say it back) ; egobang

04

And the next few hours are full of awful games and laughter and banter, and they're both in such great moods. Arin's thoughts have stayed away for the session thankfully, but by the end, his good mood has dissolved, the negative thoughts intruding his mind once again as they put everything away and collect their drinks and head out into the main office area, going down the hall until they're rounding the corner.

The only one still around is Suzy, and when she hears them chatting quietly and walking past the meeting room, she leaves the bar area and goes rushing over to them, catching them by the front door. She immediately examines Arin's head wordlessly, being careful and gentle when she does so. Then she lifts up part of his shirt to take a look at his bruised side, frowning at the discoloration.

"Hey," Arin greets her with a chuckle, but his face falls after a moment and so he just takes a sip from his glass of water to avoid talking as Suzy lets go of his shirt.

"Hi, babe," she says back, trying to smile. She looks so tired and stressed and so worn out. Probably because of him.

He knew that she would be waiting for him, but he wishes that she wouldn't have. He wishes she didn't worry about him in general even though he knows better than to think that she'd ever stop. He still feels bad about when he made her worry last time he felt depressed, and he can tell that she's panicking over it all over again. It completely ruins his mood even more, making him feel guilty.

Suzy stands up straight, sighing out. "Thanks for taking him to the hospital, Danny," she utters then, giving the oldest of them all a hug. When she pulls back, she plants a kiss on Arin's forehead away from the cut by his hairline, her attention back onto him. "I'm glad you're alright, baby. So, are you feeling any better than you have been emotionally? At least since this morning?"

For some reason he finds himself feeling a little upset that she asked even though he shouldn't be. Maybe it's because he doesn't feel like he's worthy of her concern right now.

"No, not fucking really- nothing is just going to magically get better in the span of a couple of fucking hours, Suze," he mutters, although it comes out a bit rough and a whole lot harsher than he intended it to, all caused by feeling guilty, feeling like he doesn't deserve either of them and that it'll be better if he goes away and doesn't bother them anymore. Maybe he doesn't deserve them with the way he's been feeling lately, with the way he's been thinking about Dan when he's supposed to be with Suzy, with the way he's been selfishly wanting them both.

Before anyone can say anything else, he just turns leaves them, heading off into his personal office and closing the door a little too loudly to be normal. Suzy looks at the door and then back to Dan. He has just done the same thing she did, looking back at her with slightly widened eyes before he frowns.

"Did something happen just now that I missed?" Suzy questions, confusion and hurt sweeping over her. "Or before you guys came out here?"

Dan shrugs with widened eyes, shaking his head as confusion washes over him as well, trying to make sense of what just occured. "I don't fuckin' know, Scuze, he really seemed fine a second ago. I don't understand what the hell just happened."

Suzy's face falls further at that. "Do you think he's upset with me?" she asks worriedly, torn between going to find out what's wrong and leaving him alone. "Because I've been fretting too much about him? I'm just... I'm worried that he's getting bad again, and- and I..."

"He's probably not upset with you," Dan tells her, but in reality he isn't sure. He doesn't have a fucking clue as to what the hell is going on in Arin's head, especially as of recently. One second, he seems okay, and then the next it feels like everything is going wrong again. But he doesn't say anything about that, giving Suzy another hug instead, this one reassuring and comforting, or at least that's what he hopes. "It's probably just something in his head. I'll tell you what though, I'll go talk to him, okay? I'll try to find out what the hell is going on with him. You go on ahead and go home."