Head Games

“Well, I think that’s everything,” Dave observed. He had just brought the last box of his to the moving truck he rented, and now he was looking around his apartment with Mia trying to see if he missed anything.

“Yeah,” Mia agreed. She put her hands in her back pockets, not knowing what to do or say.

“Well, I guess I’ll be on my way then.”

“Do you want a sandwich or something before you go?” Mia asked him.

“Sure,” Dave smiled. The two of them made their way into the kitchen and Dave helped Mia get all the ingredients out. There was a comfortable silence the whole time they prepared the sandwiches and ate them, but the closer it got to Dave leaving the more upset Mia became.

She knew all she had to do was tell him to stay, and he would. She knew all she needed to do was tell him she still loved him, and they could try and work things out. But she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

He had dumped her, after all. Not only did she feel a bit pathetic, but she was embarrassed about it as well.

“Thanks for the sandwich,” Dave said, putting his plate in the sink and turning around to face Mia. She was looking at the ground, biting her lip. “Mia?”

“I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I’m going to miss you,” Mia admitted.

“Why can’t you believe you said that?”

“Because I shouldn’t have,” Mia shrugged. “I shouldn’t miss you, after everything you put me through. I still don’t know exactly where we went wrong, and I make myself crazy thinking about it everyday. I shouldn’t care that you’re leaving; I should be happy. But I’m not. I’m going to miss you, and there’s no denying that.”

“Mia,” Dave sighed, stepping close to her and putting his hands on her hips. “I’m sorry. I’m not even sure why I did what I did. I-”

There was a knock on the door, and Dave pulled away from Mia. She excused herself to answer it, and she was met by Brent on the other side.

“Hey babe,” he greeted, kissing Mia on the cheek. Dave was leaning against the doorframe of the kitchen, watching the two of them. “Hey Dave.”

“Hey Seabs,” Dave nodded.

“You all set to go?” Brent asked. He was helping Dave move into his new place.

“Yeah. Just let me go do one more sweep of my room,” he said, walking away. He closed his door softly behind him, and instead of looking around he sat on the bare bed and ran a tired hand over his face.

He was about to explain everything, but then Brent came in. Dave had forgotten about Brent being Mia’s boyfriend. In a way he was glad Seabs showed up, because it stopped him from doing anything irrational.

“You okay?” Brent asked Mia.

“Yeah,” she answered. “I guess.”

“It’s not like he’s going moving to the other side of the country, Mia,” Brent chuckled. “Everything is going to be the same except he’ll be living somewhere else.”

Dave came back out of his room, closing the door behind him.

“Ready?” Brent asked.

“Yeah,” Dave nodded, glancing at Mia. Brent understood Dave’s wishes, even if Dave didn’t even realize them himself.

“I’ll meet you downstairs,” Brent said, leaving the apartment. Dave turned to Mia awkwardly, silence consuming them.

“So uh…I guess I’ll see you around,” Dave stated. “Call if you need anything. Or if you want to just meet up or something.”

“Okay,” Mia said softly.

“And once I get my new place all sorted out I’ll invite you over to check it out, okay?”

“Yeah, that sounds good,” Mia responded. “I hope you get settled in alright.”

“Thanks,” Dave replied, walking towards the open door. “Alright. See ya.”

“Dave,” Mia called as he was halfway down the hall. He stopped and turned around, looking at her. She motioned for him to come back, so he did.

Mia opened her arms, and Dave engulfed her in a hug.

“Please don’t be a stranger,” she whispered in his ear.

“I promise I won’t. You either, alright?”

He felt her nod, and he pulled away slightly to kiss her on the cheek.

“I’ll talk to you later,” Dave waved, walking away again.

“Okay,” Mia waved back, suddenly feeling cold. Once Dave was out of sight she walked back into her apartment, closing the door. Everything suddenly became very real, and Mia realized how lonely her life was going to become without someone else around all the time.

Even though Dave slept in another room, it gave Mia some peace of mind knowing there was someone else there. She wasn’t sure what to do with herself now.

Brent called Mia a couple hours later, telling her that he and Dave were done moving his things in.

“How’s the new place look?” Mia asked.

“It’s actually really nice,” Brent told her. “Once you and him get back together, I think you should move in to this new place. It’s huge.”

“I don’t think we are going to get back together,” Mia sighed.

“Just give it a little more time, you and I will ‘break up’, and then you and Dave can work things out,” Brent calculated.

“I don’t know,” Mia denied.

“Don’t give up hope, alright?” Brent laughed. “Trust me, it will all work out.”

“If you say so,” Mia remarked, not being able to stop the small smile from appearing on her face.

“Alright, I’m going to let you go. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“Okay,” Mia responded. “Night.”

“Night babe.”

Mia hung up, rolling her eyes at Brent’s use of pet names regardless of if anyone was around to hear them. She went to the window, looking up at the bleak, grey sky that was getting ready to rain. She jumped slightly at the lightning and thunder that ripped through the sky and sighed.

What a depressing way to end a depressing day.

Mia spent the rest of her night trying everything and anything to keep herself occupied, but she was having a hard time of it. It was like the end of the day couldn’t come fast enough, and she just wanted to be able to sleep all her bad feelings off. Finally, around nine thirty, Mia gave up and walked to the front door to lock up.

On her way back she passed the guest room, where Dave slept. Making a split second decision, she opened the door and was immediately greeted with his scent. She stood in the middle of the room for a moment, looking around, before shaking her head and walking back to the door. Just as she was about to leave, something caught her eye on the dresser.

As she got closer, she realized it was a note from Dave.

Mia-

I don’t even know where to begin. I can’t tell you enough how sorry I am about the way I treated you. About the way I took you for granted.

I think I let all the newfound recognition me and the guys were receiving get to my head, and I wanted to be able to do things without worrying about what you would think. But then I broke up with you, to be ‘free’ or whatever, and I didn’t do anything anyways.

All those ‘dates’ I went on?

Yeah well…I didn’t. I went on one date, realized how stupid I was being, and never went on another one again. I only told you I went on dates because I didn’t want to admit I was wrong.

And then you started dating Brent, and I kind of lost all hope of being with you again. But you deserve a nice guy like Brent. He’ll make you happy, and that makes me happy.

I want you to know I love you, and I always will. And no matter what, of you ever need me, you know I’ll be here for you.

Best of luck,

Dave

Mia immediately set the note down, rushing out of the room and putting on her shoes. She threw on a zip up sweatshirt and ran out the door.

She knew where Dave’s new apartment was, thankfully due to a small conversation they had shared about it. She wanted to drive much faster, but she was also weary of the storm going on.

Mia finally arrived at Dave’s new apartment complex, parking her car on the curb. The short walk from her car to his door soaked her to the bone, and thankfully someone was exiting just as she was walking up to the building. She looked up Dave’s apartment number and made her way upstairs.