Page 52 of Drawn Together
“Yeah, they can’t go a full day without each other, especially after everything.”
I nod and shiver a bit, moving around the fridge. I move to the window and look for my bird, Malcolm. He’s not there,unfortunately. It’s a good thing, too, because what my eyes catch on is so distressing that there is no way I could give him an ounce of attention if he was here.
“You—” my voice catches in my throat, and unwanted memories come flooding with a vengeance. “You can see our apartment…”
Fletcher is so much closer than I thought, so when he answers, I jump out of my skin. “Uh, yeah?”
Sure enough, there is a clear view into our place. Every other window in the entire building is covered by the same shading that I walk by daily. But, there is zero mirroring effect to just my apartment’s living space. One window out of hundreds is lit up from within, a shining light that says ‘look right here, oops hope you didn’t notice I left out an open box of Cap' N Crunch’ and…oh my gosh is that my bra on the couch?
“I…didn’t know you could.”
Oh no. Oh, no, no, no. I have always had exactly one qualm about our apartment I hated most. That the shower was closest to my bedroom on one side of it…and the linen closet holding all towels was on the exact opposite side. Lennon was gone so often that if I hopped out of the shower, I could drip dry until I wouldn’t be tracking water from one end of the apartment to the other…completely naked. I knew for a fact no one could see me and that no one was coming in, so I just confidently, oh my gosh, I strutted naked right in front of potentially hundreds of eyes. Two of those eyes belonging to the man directly behind me.
I squeeze my eyes shut, like maybe the memory will dissipate along with my humility.
Did I…dance at him once after we first met? I have a vague memory of that, and I can’t tell if it was a dream or not, but I am almost positive it’s not.
“So, all those times you were—”
“Nope.” My face is scrunching up like a paper ball I would love nothing more than to throw in the trash. “No idea.”
“I, uh, wasn’t sure if I should bring it up.” When I crawl out of my mental cave, I make eye contact with his neck, glowing red up to his nose. “I thought maybe you were just really comfortable.”
“I have never been so uncomfortable in my life.”
His mouth twitches. “If it helps, you can’t see much from here.”
“Fletcher, I am making eye contact with the captain on my cereal box.”
“I am so sorry. I swear I never looked and—”
“You have to have seen me at some point, otherwise you wouldn’t know what I’m talking about.”
“It makes sense, now.” He runs a hand along his jaw, the red in his cheeks deepening. “It felt very out of character for you.”
My head falls into my hands, and I groan so loud that my ears begin ringing with another thought. “Oh dear lord, did Stephan see me? Or worse, Noah?”
“Why is Noah worse?”
“Irrelevant.”
He huffs. “If Stephan did, then he never mentioned it, and believe me he would have. He has no filter, and it would’ve been brought up the first second he met you at trivia night. And Noah has worse eyesight than me, so you’re covered on that end.”
Why are neither of those facts bringing me any comfort right now?
“Fletcher, I don’t think you can comprehend how horrible this is.”
“It’s not that bad.”
“It’s awful.”
“Not ideal.”
“It’s…it’s…” Words fail me.
“Need me to bring up the word of the day app?”
“I need you to hit me in the head with a shovel so I can forget the last ten minutes.”
