Mr. Avidan?

05

Arin POV:

I pulled into the parking lot of the office by myself today. Suzy wasn't feeling the best this morning so she told me that she didn't want to come in, which is perfectly fine by me.

I parked in my usual spot and glanced over to my right where Dan and Barry usually park, both cars not being there.

Strange, I haven't heard anything from them today which made me a little concerned.

I got out of my car, making sure I locked it before I walked away. Once inside, I was greeted by Ross, Holly, and Brian.

"No shorts today Arin?"

I looked down at my black sweatpants and frowned. I guess I did change up my usual outfit of a t shirt and shorts with sandals to a t shirt and sweatpants with sandals.

"Shut up Ross, I can wear what I want."

He put his hands up defensively while the other two just laughed.

"Have you guys seen Dan and Barry? Their cars aren't here and they usually get here before I do."

The three of them looked between themselves and just shrugged.

"No we haven't seen them."

Holly gave me an unreadable look as she answered me and I frowned at the response that I got.

"God I hope nothing happened to them on their way here..."

Suddenly the other three were just as concerned about the roommates as I am.

"I'm going to call them."

Everyone else in the room silently nodded at me as I pulled my phone out of my back pocket. I scrolled through my contacts and decided that I was going to start with Dan first.

I clicked his name with the silly little picture that I have for him and held my phone to my right ear.

It rang about six or seven times before I heard a click signaling that Dan had answered.

Before he had the chance to even say anything, my concern started to show.

"Dan! Are you okay?"

There was brief silence before I could hear a voice on the other end.

"Yeah? Why do you ask?"

I let out a sigh of relief, as did Ross, Holly, and Brian who were intensely staring at me to see if everything is okay.

"It's just you didn't show up to work today and Barry didn't either and I know that the two of you live together and I was scared that something happened to the two of you because I love you guys."

I didn't think much about that before saying it, but it's not like it's a lie or anything.

A suspicious amount of time passed until I got a response.

"Um...Barry is actually here with me right now..."

Wait what? What is even happening right now? I'm sure it's nothing.

"Wait, did he just say Barry is with him?"

I covered the phone speaker so Dan and Barry couldn't hear me. I looked at Brain, who asked the question.

"Yeah that's what he said he's with him."

I uncovered the phone speaker and looked at the other three in the room with a confused look on my face.

This whole situation is just so weird.

"He...he is? I guess that explains why the two of you aren't here. What are you guys doing?"

In the background I could hear a voice that belonged to the one and only Barry.

"Hi Arin!"

My eyes narrowed and my lips flattened. Well at least Dan isn't lying to me about being with Barry, but I already know that he's going to tell me a lie before this phone call ends. He's hiding something from me, I can just feel it.

"Hi Barry, nice to hear from you."

I said that with more malicious intent than intended, but I know Barry won't be bothered too much by it. In fact, I can practically see the stupid grin on his face already.

"Yeah he's here with me, as you just heard. Um...we're just...hanging out?"

A ton of red flags went off in my head I could feel my eyebrows furrow. I adjusted the phone on my ear. He's definitely not telling me something.

"Just hanging out? Dan I can tell when you're not telling me something, I've known you long enough. What are you guys actually doing?"

"Nothing we're just a couple of friends doing friend things together that do friend things. We'll be in work soon, bye!"

The panic in his voice sent shivers down my spine.

"No wait!-"

I could feel my heart plummet all the way to the floor.

Why did he lie to me? What's going on between him and Barry? Why can't he tell me? I'm his best friend and he knows he can talk to me about absolutely anything.

I could hear Ross chuckle a little bit, most likely in attempt to lighten the mood of the suddenly very intense room.

"That's pretty suspicious. You guys don't think somethings going on between them do you?"

I know he meant that as a joke, but what if there really is something going on between them? It would make perfect sense actually now that I think about it.

The way Barry always seems to know when something is up with Dan, more than anyone else. The way that they always seem to be whispering to each other and making jokes with each other that no one else seems to get. Even the fact that they've lived with each other for so long.

"Arin?"

I was pulled from my thoughts as I was met with all of their confused eyes on me, and then the three of them glanced between each other. I wasn't sure who called my name before I saw Brain speak up.

"Dude, it was a joke, we know that they're straight."

Duh! Of course they're straight! I'm stupid, they've stated that so many times.

"Yeah, I know that!"

Holly gave me an unconvinced and almost concerned stare.

"It's just...you looked so upset after Ross made that joke, it seemed like you were actually thinking about them being together and like that hurt your feelings, or something."

Upset? No I wouldn't be upset if Dan and Barry were...together. What would make me upset is that they wouldn't tell me about it, yeah that's it.

"I was just thinking that IF there was actually something going on, I would be upset that they didn't tell me. You guys know how I feel when people don't tell me important things."

If looks could talk, the look that they all flashed me would say that they don't believe me, not even for a second. Suddenly a smirk plastered across Ross' face and he started to wiggle his eyebrows.

"Uhuh, are you sure you're not just jealous that Barry got to Dan before you?"

I jumped a little in surprise because who the fuck asks that? I could hear the other two laughing a little, but I couldn't look at them, I was too focused in on Ross.

"Shut the fuck up Ross! That's not why I'm upset at all! You asshole! Why would you even ask that?!"

The expressions on their faces turned from smug to confused, regretful, and almost scared.