Journey || Erik Durm

♂

ERIK: 

        IT was sometime near five in the morning when rain had begun to fall callously, and there was absolutely no logical explanation for why Marco and I were haphazardly ambling through Berlin's streets, drenched in rainwater while attempting to hail a taxi.

A cheap umbrella hovering over our heads, we staggered down the avenues, nearly consumed with fatigue—we hadn't slept at all last night—as we finally managed to secure ourselves inside of one.

"Durm's diner," Marco told the driver upon closing the door, allowing his body to fall limply on the backrest. We were over an hour away from our hotel and even farther from Mama's house; the nearest shelter we had access to was her diner.

When the car began to recover motion, Marco complained loudly. "Erik, I'm so bored."

Outside, the rain bore on endlessly, colliding harshly against the cab's windshield as the wipers distractingly swished back and forth in a fraile attempt to clear them. The monotonous sound of raindrops clattering against the roof of the car distracted me immensely. 

"Come on," Marco pressed, forcing me to look at him. "Let's do something exciting."

"Play Kim Kardashian Hollywood on your phone and update your Facebook status," I told him.

"Erik."

"What?"

"Let's play truth or dare."

"No," I responded, shaking my head tediously. "I'd rather go to sleep."

A faint grin fashioned on Marco's face as he announced: "Great, so you're playing and I'm downloading an app for it now."

"Marco, I'm not a prepubescent boy," I argued.

"No," he  retaliated, "but you are an adult who is bored out of his mind with nothing productive to do on a Saturday morning. As far as I'm concerned, the only difference between you and a prepubescent boy is that you can actually afford to be awake at this hour while the boy cannot."

I relaxed on my spot, my eyes straying from Marco's, my lips saying nothing as they did.

On the other side of the passanger seats, Marco scrolled through his cellphone steadily, downloading the app that he needed. Just as his phone beeped—signaling that the download had finished—a few minutes later, the cab abruptly halted into a stop, parking besides the footpath in front of Mama's diner.

Eager to get out of the taxi, Marco and I thanked the driver for his swift hospitality and gave him extensive tips; after that, he quickly drove away, leaving us to indulge in our solitude on the dampened sidewalks. By this time, the rain had thankfully managed to die down, allowing a soft drizzle to fill in the absence of the downpour. 

"There are a ton of good dares on this," Marco muttered as we sauntered in the direction of the diner's entrance. "I dare you to lick a bar of soap—blow in someone's ear—give a hickey to your male friend—no—no—no—oh, I got one!" he exclaimed, his eyes euphorically rising from his phone's screen. "I dare you to kiss the next person you see."

"What?" I asked, my bottom lip dropping slightly in astonishment.

Marco ran his fingers through his wet hair, his eyes challengingly boring into my own. "You up for it?"

"No," I deadpanned, exploring the isolated boulevards with my eyes. There was no one nearby. 

"Come on," he urged. "What do you have to lose?"

"There's no one to kiss, Marco," I pointed out. 

Aware that I had a point, Marco silenced himself back into scrolling through dares, causing the two of us to lapse into a silence. As it relentlessly settled around us, Marco took the perogative to raise his head from his phone and scan the scenery for victims. As he did that, I scavenged into my pockets for the keys that would unlock the door to shelter.