The Last Goodbye

Patrick waited a few minutes before leaving the interview room. He saw Adam sitting on the couch in the living room, and he made his way over to him, wondering why he was still at the house. He would have figured that Adam would have left after the girls had to go to their room. “What are you still doing here?” Patrick inquired, sitting down next to Adam, propping his feet up on the coffee table in front of them.

“I just saw Delaney leave in a rush,” Adam told him, not even glancing over at Patrick, leaving Patrick to wonder if Adam had overheard them somehow. “She almost looked like she was upset or something. What’d you do to her?”

“I didn’t do anything,” Patrick said, continuing to stare straight ahead, avoiding looking at Adam, knowing that if Adam saw his face right now, he wouldn’t believe a word that came out of his mouth.

“Bullshit,” Adam called.

Patrick was quiet for a moment before he realized there was really no reason to lie anymore. Sure, Adam would be pissed off at him for putting the moves on Delaney even though he already knew that Adam liked him, but he’d get over it in the end. “Fine,” Patrick sighed, and Adam turned to look at him, wondering what Patrick was going to say. “I kissed Delaney at the rink, and just a few minutes ago I tried to get her to see that we could have a real relationship, and she turned me down,” Patrick confessed.

Adam was silent for a moment, and Patrick began getting more and more worried. He slowly began to look at Adam, when he suddenly burst out laughing. “Did you really think she’d say yes?” Adam questioned through his laughter.

“Okay, first of all, I was not expecting this type of reaction from you. I figured you’d want to take my head off for going after Delaney,” Patrick told him.

“Yeah, I’m pissed at you for going behind my back and trying to get with Delaney, knowing that I wanted her,” Adam began. “But, please, you’re no competition for me,” Adam assured him. “Every single girl in the world would choose me over you any day of the week. But, seriously, did you really think Delaney would say yes to a relationship?” Adam asked.

“What do you mean any girl would choose you over me?” Patrick questioned, obviously offended by Adam’s statement. “I believe I’m the star of a reality show, not you,” he pointed out.

“That’s because you need a show because you need help with getting women,” Adam retorted.

“You can’t even get the one girl that you want,” Patrick told him, referring to Delaney.

“Yeah, and obviously you can’t get her either,” Adam reminded him. “And, I will ask one more time, did you really think she’d say yes to a relationship? With you?”

“Yeah, I did!” Patrick exclaimed. “I mean, she kissed me!”

“And that’s supposed to mean something?” Adam inquired, and Patrick glared at him.

“It’s further than you got with her,” Patrick retorted. Now, it was Adam’s turn to glare at Patrick.

“Are you expecting me to feel sympathetic towards you or something?” Adam questioned. “Because if that’s what you’re looking for, you might as well walk up those stairs and find one of the contestants. Because I’m not going to feel sorry for you. You went after Delaney, knowing that I was into her. And, then you got shot down, which really isn’t a big surprise. I mean, she turned me down because she didn’t want to date someone who worked with her on the show. So, I’ll ask one more time, did you really think she’d say yes to you? Really? Kaner, you’re the star of the show. There’s no way that she would ever date you,” Adam informed him.

“I don’t know,” Patrick whined, leaning his head back against the couch.

“Just forget about her,” Adam told him. “You’ve got twelve girls upstairs that want you. Don’t be an idiot and dwell on Delaney when they’re right upstairs, willing and waiting.”

Patrick thought about Adam’s words for a few moments before responding. “You know what, you’re right,” he said, nodding his head and leaning forward. “Why do I care about some girl that doesn’t want to be with me. I’m Patrick fucking Kane, and I’ve got twelve girls that want me. Fuck Delaney!”

“Okay, chill out,” Adam said, putting his hand on Patrick’s chest and pushing him backwards on the couch. “You’re still no me,” he added, putting Patrick in his place.

“Whatever,” Patrick shrugged him off, standing up. “Thanks for setting me straight,” he added, walking towards the staircase. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he called, walking up the stairs to his bedroom.

The following morning, Patrick sat in the kitchen eating a bowl of Fruit Loops when Delaney walked in. “Hey,” she said quietly with a small smile on her face. She really didn’t know how to act around Patrick after what had happened the previous night, and she wasn’t really sure how he was going to react to her just walking out on him.

“Hey,” he nodded his head, his mouth full of food. “What’s on the agenda for today?” he asked, looking at the back of the cereal box.

Delaney took a second glance at him, surprised by his attitude. While she would never complain about the way he was acting, she was still shocked that he was being as calm and reasonable as he was at the moment. She had been preparing herself to have Patrick upset at her and trying to convince her that they really should be together. But, instead, he was acting as he always had with her before their kissing incidence had occurred.

“Um,” Delaney stuttered, off-guard. “You and the girls are going to a museum,” she said, finally remembering what the plans were for the day.

Patrick slowly looked up at her, trying to figure out if she was telling the truth or not. “A museum?” he questioned, and Delaney nodded her head as she pulled out the chair that sat across from Patrick and sat down in it. “A museum?” he asked once again.

“Yes, a museum,” she told him. “An art museum to be more specific.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“No, I’m not,” Delaney said. “Why?”

“Do you honestly think that I’m an art museum type of guy?” he asked her. Delaney opened her mouth to reply but instantly shut it, not knowing how to respond to the rhetorical question. “See, you know this isn’t my type of thing,” he said, taking the last bite of Fruit Loops before gulping down the rest of the milk left in the bowl.

“It’s just one date,” Delaney said. “It can’t possibly be that bad. I mean, it’s just an art museum.”

“What are you two arguing in here about?” Adam asked, walking into the kitchen. “Let me guess, Kaner’s whining about the date today.”

“How’d you know?” Delaney asked, looking up at him with a smile on his face.

“I knew as soon as I heard that they were going to the art museum that Kaner would bitch the entire time. He’s not an art museum type of guy,” Adam explained.

“That’s what I said,” Patrick piped up.

“It’s one day at an art museum!” Delaney exclaimed. “It’s not going to kill you!”

“I don’t get why you’d take him and a bunch of chicks to an art museum, though,” Adam said, taking a seat next to Delaney. “I mean, none of them seem to be the artsy people. What are you trying to accomplish by this date?”

“Maybe you’ll learn something new about some of the girls,” Delaney suggested, looking at Patrick, even though Adam was the one that had asked the question. “Maybe you’ll see a different side to one of them. Maybe you’ll see something that’ll make one of them more attractive in your eyes.”

Patrick had to resist the urge to roll his eyes at her. He knew that she was saying these things, implying that he needed to connect with one of the contestants and forget all about Delaney. But, even if he was trying to act like everything was normal between the two of them, the truth couldn’t be further away. Patrick couldn’t forget about the sparks that flew when his lips touched hers. But, Delaney would never get involved with him while he was on the show. So, he had to move on and just choose one of the girls, just like Adam had suggested.

“Maybe I will,” Patrick shrugged his shoulders. “When do we leave?” he asked.

“Half an hour,” Delaney answered. “Why?”

“I thought I’d go freshen up for the ladies,” he joked, scooting his chair back, getting up and putting his dirty dishes in the sink before walking to his room.

Adam watched Delaney, who was staring at Patrick as he walked out the room. “You okay?” he asked her, knowing that she was having an internal debate with herself about what she should do about Patrick. It was obvious by the way she watched him leave that she felt something towards him. What that something was, though, Adam just wasn’t sure.

“Yeah, of course,” Delaney said, spinning around to look at Adam. “Why wouldn’t I be?” she asked.

Adam shook his head. “I don’t know. You just don’t seem like yourself,” he commented.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Delaney told him. “So, how was your night last night?” she asked him, changing subjects.

“See, you saying things like that tell me that something’s wrong,” Adam said, and Delaney looked at him curiously, having no idea what he was talking about. “You just asked me how my night was last night. You’ve never asked me that before.”

“I’m sorry that I ask a simple question,” Delaney said, beginning to get defensive. “Let me just leave now,” she said standing up and starting to leave the room.

“Hey, Delaney,” Adam called out, and Delaney stopped where she stood, turning around to look at him.

“What?” she sighed.

“You feel like going out with me tonight?” he asked her, knowing she’d say no.

Delaney let out a small laugh. “No, Adam. We’ve been through this before,” she told him.

“Yeah, I know. I just thought I’d try to get you back to your normal self,” he smiled at her, bumping into her as he passed her on his way out of the kitchen.