Too Scared to Love Again

“I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!” Cynthia all but screeched at her roomie, who had just returned home.

“But here I am! Alive!” Lynn responded.

“Yeah, but your hair looks like crap! And what the fuck happened to you? You have scratches everywhere!” Cynthia let out, concern resting in her eyes.

“I fell off my bike.” Lynn told her.

“But who cleaned you up?” the blonde asked, her arms crossed over her chest and her eyebrows wiggling.

“Hannah, you perv!” Lynn grumbled.

“Oh, sure!” Cynthia let out, her face giving away that she wasn’t entirely convinced.

“Oh, eat shit!” Lynn snapped at her. “How did the blind date go?” Lynn asked, cocking her eyebrows as she changed subject.

“Oh, please!” Cynthia said rather unimpressed. “Not my type.”

“Right…” Lynn mouthed. “I bet you’re meeting him again.”

“What? Why would I do that?” the blonde placed her hands on her hips.

“Because you always do! Even when you don’t even like them!” Lynn pointed out.

“Bullshit!”

“Oh, yeah? It happened with Eva, Carol, Bryce, Jeffree…” the brunette trailed off, as she listed up Cynthia’s former partners.

“Okay, Lynn! I get it!” Cynthia grumbled. “Maybe I’ll meet him again, but can you guys please stop embarrassing me?” she whined.

“That’s our job!” Lynn told her. “And besides, I should be able to mock anyone in this apartment for having a partner.”

“Why? Because you’re a man-hater who hasn’t gotten any dick in like a year?” Cynthia cocked her eyebrows at her.

“Yes! That’s exactly why!” Lynn smiled.

“God!” the blonde tangled her fingers in her hair, groaning out loud. “You gotta get laid soon, Lynn!”
“Yes, I totally agree, but not by a man!” Lynn pointed out.

“Okay, but download fucking tinder and get yourself some pussy, Lynn! Seriously! It’s been way too long!” Cynthia told her friend, the two women being so engaged in the conversation that they completely ignored the sound of the door being unlocked, and the footsteps that emerged down the hall until Blair, Zack and Brian were standing in the entrance of the living room.

“Good evening to you too.” the ginger-haired woman chuckled, as she realized what she had stepped into.

Lynn looked at her roommate, and then guided her eyes over to the two men that had companied her, and that both had pretty funny looks on their faces.

“Blair! Zack! Brian!” Cynthia expressed, trying to somehow guide the awkward tension away, as she went to hug her friend and guests.

“We bumped into Brian on our way here, and thought he could stay for dinner.” Blair explained.
“Great idea!” the blonde smiled.

“I was thinking pizza?” Blair suggested, and then padded into the kitchen in order to get herself something to drink, her boyfriend chasing her like a puppy.

“How are you?” Cynthia asked Brian, her hands digging into the pocket of her shorts.
“Good! Been jamming a little with my dad,” the guitarist said. “What about you?”

“Oh, very fine, even though this little duck had me worried sick!” Cynthia said, nudging the brunette, who rolled her eyes at her friend.

“Oh, really?” Brian cocked his eyebrows, glancing over at Lynn, who kept avoiding his gaze.

“She didn’t come home last night!” the blonde explained.

“Yeah, what was that about?” Blair emerged from the kitchen, as she then caught the sight of the bruises on Lynn’s arms. “Good God, L!”

“I fell off my bike, okay!” Lynn told her. “And I’m fine!”

“That shit looks awful.” Zack quipped from his girlfriend’s side.

“She’s not really this clumsy!” Cynthia reassured her guests, as they soon moved towards the couch.

“I think we’ll need some reliable sources to believe that.” Brian chuckled, and watched how Lynn glared at him.

“Shove it up your ass.” Lynn commented, settling down between her roomies and bringing her bruised knees

“How did the blind date go?” Blair asked, feeling Zack’s arm around her shoulders.

“Let’s not talk about that now.” Cynthia replied.

“It went well!” Lynn smirked mischievously, as the blonde roommate nudged her friend.

“Shut it, L!”

“They’re so meeting each other again!” she said, this time able to dodge Cynthia’s elbow, as well as glare.

“Shut the fuck up!” Cynthia snarled.

“Second-date?” Blair cocked her eyebrows at her friend, smirking, as the blonde narrowed her eyes at her roomies.

“You guys are horrible! I’m gonna go and order!” Cynthia groaned and got up from her seat. “Fuck every single one of you!”

“Well, okay then…” Zack chuckled, exchanging a look with Brian, who was settled in an armchair across from the rest of them. “At least you had a great night.” the guitarist remarked to his mate, who rolled his eyes.

“What do you mean?” Blair quipped from beside him.

“Gates got laid last night.” Zack smirked.

“Oh, this is interesting!” the ginger-haired woman giggled.

“No, it isn’t.” Brian cleared his throat, avoiding how Lynn was narrowing her eyes at the man from her seat.

“I take it as it wasn’t a victory?” the dark-haired man said teasingly to his friend.

“She was okay. I’ve had better.” Brian ran a hand through his hair, his answer sounding rather nonchalant.

“Oh, I’m sure of it.” Zack hovered with laughter, just as Lynn got to her feet, her cheeks stinging with embarrassment as she left the living room.

Did the guys know she’d slept over at his place? And what exactly had Brian told them?

Lynn slipped passed the door to her bedroom, and ran a hand through her wavy brown locks, feeling how her fingers got stuck in the tangles on their ways through her bangs. The woman sunk down at the end of her bed, glaring blankly at her plain wall, before the sound of heavy footsteps caught her attention.

“What are you doing here?” the brunette asked, noticing how Brian was standing at her door entrance.

“I assumed that you went to hide after my comment, so I came to check upon you.” he admitted, his eyes looking down at her floor.

“I’m fine. You can leave now.” Lynn reassured him, as she went to collect books that had took up the space on her nightstand.

“I told them I slept with someone from a bar.” Brian told her.

“They don’t think you slept with me?” Lynn looked up at him.

“No, of course not! You told me that you would literally cut off my balls if I told anyone we hung out last night.” Brian reminded her.

“Oh…” Lynn let out, feeling almost stupid for believing something else.

“I’m not that gross, Lynn.” he pointed out, sounding almost offended.

“Maybe not…” Lynn chuckled.

“Lynn! Brian! Pizza!” Cynthia called through the slim hall.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m gonna get some pizza.” Brian announced.

“Not without me.” Lynn smiled.