Matchmaker

“H-Hi,” I stuttered out.

“Hello,” he said, biting his lip. Wow.

“Uhm, nice to meet you,” I said, holding my hand out to him.

“Lovely to meet you as well,” he said, smiling and shaking my hand. Wow.

“Well, let’s get junk inside,” Dan said, hopping in the back of the truck.

“Hey! My stuff is not junk!” I laughed, breaking eye contact with Rupert for the first time.

We started up the assembly line again, finally getting all of the boxes out of the truck. As the truck started pulling away, the four of us started carrying boxes up to the top floor apartment.

Two hours later, my boxes were all moved upstairs.

“It finally feels like home!” Morgan cried, jumping on my in a hug. I laughed and hugged her back.

“Except nothing is unpacked yet,” I giggled.

“How about we take a break and take you girls out to celebrate?” Dan asked.

“Out?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Yeah! How does ice cream sound?” he asked. I shrugged.

“Sure, I’m always up for free food,” I said, smiling. Morgan agreed as well.

“I actually have to run back to my apartment and grab some cash. Wanna come?” Dan asked the three of us.

“Of course,” Morgan said, linking arms with him.

“Actually, I think I’d like to stay here with Ellie. I mean, to help her start unpacking. You can just come pick us up in a bit,” Rupert said. Wow. I want him to say my name again.

“What?” I asked.

“I-Is that alright?” he asked me. I smiled.

“Of course,” I said. Morgan cleared her throat. I glanced at her. She had a ‘you-guys-are-soooooooooooo-cute’ look on her face. I rolled my eyes.

“Okay, if you insist. We’ll be back soon,” Dan said.

“Not too soon,” Morgan purred in his ear, giggling. He chuckled, rubbing noses with her.

“Ew,” Rupert and I said at the same time. Dan and Morgan left hand in hand, completely forgetting that Rupert and I existed. I stared after them for a moment, then looked up at Rupert and smiled.

“Hi,” he said, smiling at me. I giggled slightly.

“Hey,” I said.

“They might be a while,” he said.

“Ew. I’d rather not think about it,” I laughed, wrinkling my nose. He laughed.

“Good point,” he said.

“Hey, I didn’t get a chance to thank you for helping me move in and stuff. So… thanks,” I smiled, sitting in front of a box and opening it up.

“No problem. My pleasure,” he said, sitting on the other side of the box.

“I hate having so much junk,” I said, taking tons of old Disney movies out of the box.

“Junk? C’mon, Hercules!? It’s a classic!” he said, picking up the VHS. I laughed.

“You’re right. It doesn’t beat Aladdin, though. Not in my book,” I said.

“You’re joking! Hercules is the best Disney movie ever made,” he said.

“What!? Incorrect, my good sir. Aladdin is, in fact, the shit,” I said.

“Looks like we have to watch both of them to figure out which one really is the best,” he said, smirking. I smiled.

“Okay, you’re on,” I said, picking up both VHS tapes and running out to the living room. I was surprised Morgan even had a VCR. She’s anti-retro. But I love me some VHS tapes. “You think we’ll have time to watch both of them?”

“Morgan and Dan are probably not coming back. At least not for a while,” he laughed, sitting down on the couch. I wrinkled my nose.

“Awesome. Then I guess we have time,” I said, popping Aladdin into the VCR. I hopped up onto the couch next to Rupert. He smiled at me. I smiled back.

He stared into my eyes for a moment. His smile was captivating. He had a sort of innocence about him. I couldn’t look away.

He leaned forward slowly. As he did, the couch creaked. When it did, I jumped and looked away from him.

“Aladdin is first since it’s the best,” I said, ignoring my red cheeks.

I reached for the remote and pressed play.