Love in All the Wrong Places

We arrived back in the apartment well after midnight and were welcomed with a dark, quiet apartment, which meant that Travis was still out. I didn’t expect to see him tonight after finding out he was going out with that waitress. I really needed to learn her name so I could identify her as something other than “that waitress from Waffle House”.

I’ve decided that I can now add ‘heartthrob’ to Travis’s list of traits. He seems to be quite the ladies’ man as of late. So maybe for his “signature look” we can work off of an old-school heartthrob theme? It’s a work in progress, but I’m leaning more towards a southern charmer; a gallant, good ol’ boy. I’m going to offer this angle to Trav and see what he thinks. I’m suddenly getting a very Dukes of Hazard/Dean Winchester vibe for Travis. Come to think of it, Dean Winchester is actually a pretty accurate fit of him. I’m not sure why they strike me as so similar, but for some reason they do.
They’re not identical, no, but they share enough similar qualities that it could give me enough to work with. I’ll probe Travis when he gets back to at least see if he’s familiar with Supernatural in any form, and work from there.

As I was pondering all of this, I didn’t even realize that I had wandered into the kitchen and had begun cooking until I burnt my hand. I looked down and realized I had subconsciously gotten ingredients out to make an omelet and had the frying pan with butter on the stove while it heated up. I tend to cook when I’m stressed or working through some problem lacking a solution. In the process, I had also subconsciously placed my hand onto the hot frying pan. I screamed in pain when the heat touched my palm.

Dave came running into the kitchen to see me bent over holding the wrist of my burnt hand. Quickly realizing what was taking place; he immediately runs to the sink to turn on cold water and takes my burnt hand to run it under the icy water. I feel the relief wash through my now throbbing palm and prayed I got it under the water quick enough to keep it from blistering. Once my hand was steadied under the water, Dave turned off the stove, moved all the omelet ingredients back to their proper places in the cabinets and fridge, and stood in front of the stove to ensure I didn’t put my hand on the hot coils by accident again. After a few minutes of keeping my hand under the water, Dave came over and gently grabbed my hand from under the faucet and turned the water off.
He then began to examine my palm where I burned it. He gently brushed his fingers across the palm of my right hand and I had to resist the urge to shudder, not just from the pain from the burn, but also from a new burning sensation breaking through my entire body. Try as I might, I couldn’t withhold the shudder, and jumped slightly at his touch. I felt this new sense of electricity surging through me; much like the same electricity that surged through me when we kissed in the park. Dave must’ve sensed what I was feeling because when I looked up from our hands, his face was merely inches from mine. I felt his face beginning to inch closer to mine and I could feel the anticipation rising in my body. My heart was beating so fast and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Purely exhilarating. I began to close my eyes, and felt his breath hit my face near my lips. I felt the ghosting of his lips beginning to caress mine when I heard the front door opening. Dave jumped back and we both looked through the opening in the wall of the kitchen that looked out into the living room towards the front door to see Travis walking through the door. This entrance however wasn’t as awkward as the one earlier today. He came in normally, sat his keys in the bowl by the front door, and waved to us as he walked into his room to turn in for the night.

I looked back to where Dave was but he was gone. I frantically looked around me wondering where he could’ve gone off to when I noticed he was pacing on the small balcony outside that was connected to the kitchen. I couldn’t read his expression due to how dark it was outside, but as I approached the window, all I could see was him feverishly running his hands through his hair, almost pulling it out in frustration. Crap. I have no idea what had just happened moments ago, but apparently it caught him off guard as much as it did me. I let him be, and went to find my spot on the loveseat in the living room. I figured I’d let him take the fold out bed in the couch tonight if he wanted to. The last thing I remember before submerging into the depths of sleep was looking through the door that led to the balcony and seeing Dave crouched down, head in hands, with a pained expression on his face. I blame myself.

***

I woke up with a blanket draped over my body. I groggily rub the sleep from my eyes, and notice a bandage wrapped around my right hand. I look at it, and since I fell asleep, Dave must have come and treated my burnt hand to keep it from further irritation. I must have been in a deep sleep to not notice him wrapping my hand. I put my hand down and look over to the adjacent couch to see Dave curled up in a ball on the cushions, neglecting to pull out the stow-away bed. I smiled inwardly at this. He looked so peaceful and child-like sleeping. Reminded me of the many all-nighters pulled during college trying to keep each other awake to finish whatever project or paper we were working on. He could never make it through the night. I would finish a project and look over to check his progress, only to find him in the same position that he is in now; curled up in a ball asleep. I hope that whatever happened, or almost happened, last night doesn’t affect the closeness we had been having the last couple days. We still had to figure out where and how we should start finding out about Jessie’s killer and I needed him now more than ever if I’m going to find whoever it is. I looked over my left shoulder to the cable box under the TV to see the time reading 10:00 AM. Finally. I’m beginning to regain a sense of a normal sleep schedule.

I get up to make breakfast. On my way to the kitchen, I stop by Dave and see that his blanket is falling off of him. I gently pick it up and drape it back over him. He subconsciously feels the added warmth, and instantly snuggles into the blanket and slightly smiles. I said it before and I’ll say it again; he looks so adorable when he sleeps. I tussle the hair on the top of his head and padded my way into the kitchen.

I decided to forego making omelets after last night’s fiasco with the stove and go a simpler route that doesn’t require the use of the stove: homemade chocolate chip muffins and a breakfast quiche. I gathered the ingredients and turned on the oven to pre-heat. Once I made the batter for the muffins I poured it into the muffin tin and prepared the quiche. Once both were ready to be cooked, I placed them in the oven and made my way towards the bathroom to freshen up for the day.

I stepped into the bathroom, shut the door behind me, and stripped from my clothes and stepped into the shower. I was rinsing my hair and was in the middle of belting out one of my go-to shower songs, “Oh! Darling” by The Beatles when I heard a loud knocking at the bathroom door.

“Hey C, it’s Dave. Can I uh, use the bathroom?”

I laughed, and said, “Of course. Just warn me before you flush so I don’t scald my skin.”

He did his business and warned me before he finished so I could make sure I was out of the water stream. I waited a few seconds before resuming my shower concert when I heard him clear his throat to gain my attention. I about jumped out of my skin. I had no idea he was still in here.

“Hey C, about last night…”

I peeked my head out of the curtain and responded to his statement. “Look Dave, it happens. Don’t even worry about it. Water under the bridge.”

He looks up at me hesitantly, bites his lip, lowers his head, and exits the bathroom. Damn. Things are going to be awkward between us again. I hate this. We never used to have problems with things ever getting awkward between us. I wonder why it seems like now it happens all the time. The last time I remember anything being this awkward between us was back when we went on our first, and only, date. I had fun, but the entire time it just felt so weird to me. I tried getting more into the date, but I couldn’t help but compare it to dating my brother. It felt so wrong for some reason.

I felt like Loraine in the first Back to the Future, when she’s in the car with Marty at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance. Unbeknownst to her, she’s sitting in the car with her son-to-be from the future, but still has the biggest crush on him until she puts the move on him and kisses him. In that moment she feels like everything is off and a relationship with Marty other than what it had been was out of the question. That’s exactly how I felt on that date.

I had liked Dave for a while and was ecstatic to discover he felt the same. When he asked me out I could barely contain my excitement. Driving around was fine, and he even held my hand. That didn’t make me feel weird, luckily, because Dave and I have always had a very affectionate friendship. Once we got to the park though, something in me snapped. I don’t know if I psyched myself out or what, but when we were lying on the blanket, I couldn’t help but think, “Dear God, please don’t let him try to kiss me.” Well, that went unanswered because sure enough, he tried. I gave him a subtle rejection by turning my head, and by that point I had to get away from him. I couldn’t even bare to be within a close proximity to his person. I was too freaked out. I was surprised he still wanted to be my friend after that because I had inadvertently pushed him so far into the friend zone that there was no hope of him ever coming out. I talked with him about just remaining friends because of it being so awkward and he agreed with me.

However, for the next few weeks, everything was just—off. Our friendship had difficulty falling back into that natural rhythm we once had. We fumbled around each other all the time and conversation didn’t flow as easily as before. I worried for the longest time if we would ever get out of this rut. After about a month of all the awkwardness, I pulled Dave aside and asked if we could talk about it. I honestly don’t remember what exactly we discussed other than the fact that we were both tired of walking on eggshells around each other. From that point on, our friendship seemed to realign and we became closer than we were before the date. The awkwardness between Dave and I this morning felt much like those few weeks did.

I was thrown out of my thoughts by a rather anxious Travis banging on the door begging me to hurry because he needed to get ready quickly for work because he overslept. Realizing that I still had food in the oven, I quickly jumped out of the shower, dressed, and left the bathroom for Travis so he could get ready. My hair still being wrapped in a towel, and my clothes sticking to me from not being completely dry, I make a mad dash across the hardwood floors to the kitchen; praying that the food didn’t burn. I slide to a stop on the kitchen tiles to see Dave plating the muffins and quiche on the counter next to the oven. He looks over the side of his right shoulder to see me standing beside him a few feet away.

“Have you come to finish up your shower set list from before so I can be entertained while I finish, or do I have to catch the next show?” he jested with a quirked eyebrow.

I rolled my eyes and replied, “Honestly, you shouldn’t have even heard the set list to begin with. You were lucky to catch what little you did, because I don’t sing for anyone. I’m an exclusive performer.”

He jabbed back with, “So does that mean you don’t have change for ones? I mean, I would’ve paid you before for your exclusive performance, but uh, there was nowhere for me to stick the dollar bills with you being in the shower and all…”

I walked over and punched his upper right arm. “You know that’s not what I meant! Hurry up and finish plating the muffins so we can eat breakfast ya goob!” I then lightly hit the back of his head, grabbed the quiche and began making my way to the table set up in the back of the living room.

He chortled and rubbed his right arm where I punched him before finishing up plating the muffins. Once he set the plate of muffins on the table, he went to the fridge to grab the milk as well as a couple of glasses for us to use. Recognizing that we were lacking plates and forks, I jumped up and got them from the cabinet before sitting back at the table. I was reaching to pull my chair out when Dave raced over to the chair and proceeded to pull out the chair for me to sit in, whilst giving a small bow. I smiled and went to sit when, instead of hitting the chair, I hit the floor. The douche pulled the chair out from me instead of for me. I look up at him from on the floor with disdain. He just remains behind the chair, holding the sides of it, and laughing hysterically.

Travis then comes out of his room and sees the display in the kitchen. “Dude, what happened?”

Between laughing fits, Dave replies, “Oh man….you m-mi-missed it!...Whew!...I…acted like I was gonna…pull the….ch-chair out…for C here….Then…right as she’s about…to…sit….I manage to…completely…pull the…chair out f-from…un-under her…I can-can’t believe..sh-sh-she…actually fell…f-for it…” By this time, Dave was crying from laughing so hard. I honestly didn’t find it so funny.

I shoot a glare over to Travis to gage his response. He looks like he’s about to bust a gut like Dave is, but he catches my eye and instantly changes his demeanor.

“Oh, oh man Dave. Seems like you’re gonna be shit outta luck with her now. Good luck repairing that one.” He then gives Dave a slap on the shoulders before giving me a small wave goodbye and heading out the door to work. Tactfully avoiding getting on my bad side. Good move Travis. I couldn’t say the same for Dave at this particular moment.

I cross my arms and look up at Dave waiting for him to help me up and do something other than laugh at me falling hard on my ass. After seeing my angry expression, he softens his laughing and steps out from behind the chair shamefacedly. He leans down some and offers both of his hands to help me stand up. I uncross my arms and place my hands in his so he could help pull me up off the floor. He pulls me up, and we stood there staring into each other’s’ eyes much like the previous night when my phone began ringing. I quickly dropped his hands, seeing as I was still holding them, and raced to the living room to retrieve my phone off the coffee table.

I picked it up without looking at the caller ID. “Hello?”

“Hey C. It’s me. Jake.”

Shit just got real.