~Several months later~

"Dante, no."

I grin, feeling as giddy as a little child while I run around the kitchen and away from Alex. His phone is in my hand, and he's not getting it back.

"Why not? Who you texting?" I look down at the screen when I realize there's enough of a distance between us to take a second. I'm safe enough; the moment he moves, I'll know. 

"No one," he lies. He takes a step closer, so I take one aside and go to his messages. He's been on edge all morning, toying with his fingers (which is a nervous tic of his) and staring at an empty conversation with a number. I've asked about it a thousand times by now, but he just ignores me. 

So, this is the next best option. 

There's no profile name, only a number I don't recognize. There's one message, his. It reads: Hey, can we talk?

"You're such a loser, do you know that?" I sigh, giving him his phone back. My only answer is a glare as he tucks the device back in his pocket. 

"Aw, are your feelings hurt now?" I pout, stepping closer to wait for an unguarded moment. The second he rolls his eyes and his attention isn't on me, I hurry forward and poke him between his ribs. With a dramatic shout, he drops onto the floor. 

"Dude! You literally just invaded my privacy, and then you continue to stab me?!" he complains, covering the spot I poked him in with his hand and rolling onto his stomach. My God. Dramaqueen. 

"You're such a dramalama," I groan. "Here, you can look at my last message too, if you want."

As I hand him over the phone, which he greedily snatches from me, I try to recall what my last message is. I don't have any secrets for Alex, after all he's my best friend, but I'm starting to wonder if it's actually decent. 

"You can come over tonight, when my roommates are outtt," Alex drags out. I grab my phone back, immediately flushing. Damnit. I should've thought longer about this proposal. "Who's this sexy big dick daddy?"

I cover my face with my hands. "Oh my God, you did not just say that. Shut up!" 

He's laying on the floor with his leg dangling in the air, as if he's a romcom main character writing in her diary. "Tell me about him."

"Nah uh," I refuse, shaking my head. "He's not even gonna answer me, so there's no point in telling you."

He pouts. I try to avoid his gaze by walking to the living room, but he grabs my leg and keeps holding onto me. Even when I attempt to cross the living room, Alex tows along. Asshole. 

"Update!" he whines, scraping across the floor. I ignore him the best I can, but that's not as easy when he's literally clinging to me. 

"Shut up!" I tell him. He pouts, but lets go of my leg and stands up. Finally. For fuck's sake. 

Glad he let go of the topic, I grab a book from the table and snuggle into the couch. I know Alex doesn't mean anything with it, he's just playing, but I'd rather not have him joking about Flynn. Not after I spent months trying to figure out who he is and only recently got his phone number. This is the first time he's agreed to meet up, at all. 

"Hey, Dante," Alex sits down next to me. His voice is softer and gentle this time, and not the teasing tone he had moments ago. "You're being safe, right? Is this a stranger? Do you know him?"

I guess he's practically a stranger, yes. But Flynn doesn't feel strange. Whenever he sends a message, it's ... comforting, almost.

"He's not ... like that," I tell him, truthfully. Because Flynn isn't someone I'm hooking up with, or want to hook up with. He's someone who helped me out of a dangerous situation, all because I was so stupid to get drunk all by myself, and I want to thank him with something. 

We're not even friends, really. 

"I won't dig too deep," Alex reassures me," since this is clearly something you're not comfortable talking about. I'm sorry for teasing you about it as well. But can you promise me you'll tell me if this guy keeps bugging you? I'll help without judging you, I swear."

Peeking over my book, I can see the worry crossing over his face. "Should I stay home tonight? Hide in my room in case you need help?"

Quickly, I shake my head. "No, no. Absolutely not! I can handle myself! We're not doing anything of what you're thinking. And he's not planning anything. We're just meeting to catch up on each other. Nothing special."

Still suspicious, but thankfully letting it go, Alex nods and stands up. "Call me if you need anything, okay?"

Trying to hide my surprise at his sudden switch, I shrug. "Sure."

"Dante—" "Alex, you coming or what?!" Arabella shouts while she passes out, running out of the door. She saves me from more concern from Alex, who is now looking like he's in a dilemma. 

"Go," I wave him off, "you don't need to babysit me." He mumbles something under his breath before grabbing his coat and bag and running right after Arabella.

I count to three, and yep, there's Elias walking out of his room. Messy hair and shirt thrown on, he follows slowly. I believe he doesn't even know where they're going. 

Contrary to Arabella and Alex, me and Elias are rather laid back. They run from one room to another, panicking about deadlines and too many things to do. Whereas us two see where we'll get. Close deadline? No problem, I have another hour. 

Besides, I work better under pressure. Starting days beforehand is nothing for me. 

"Honey, please!" Arabella groans, coming back inside to get her boyfriend. "If we don't go now, we'll be late!"

"It's a padel court!" Elias rolls his eyes. "They'll let us in even if we're ten minutes late."

"No, see, you don't understand..." The second they're out of my house, I lock the front door. If not, before I know it, Elias will be sitting in the living room all night. This is the first time he's left the house today, at all, and I almost thought I had to blow Flynn off.

Coast clear?

I subconsciously grin at his message, sent mere minutes ago. Texting a quick response when I hear Alex's car driving off, I make my way back to the front door, ready to open it and welcome him in.

Coast clear.

The knock follows a minute later, and there he stands. Clad in a football jacket and with messy hair as an accessory, Flynn Harrison finally stands in front of me again. "Hi."

"Hi," I answer, a little breathless. Realizing I've just been staring at him without a sound, even forgetting to let him in, I move aside and open the front door more. "Come in."

He grins, brushing past me and making his way inside as though he's been here before. He hasn't. While he does that, I take a deep breath and rest the back of my head against the door behind me. Is it me or does he look even better than that night?

His head pops up from behind the corner leading to the kitchen. "You coming?"

"Yeah!" I shut the door and make my way to him, where he stands with a stupidly charming smile. As though he knows what I'm thinking. "Want anything to drink?"

"Sure," he nods, looking around the room with his hands in his pockets. A silence dawns, and I'm afraid I don't know what to say to fill it. In my head, I never got any further than this point. So, he did show up, what now?

"Hey, are those your friends?" he asks. In a panic, I look through the kitchen window, but the parking lot is still empty. Then, I realize he is looking at the fridge, and the few pictures Arabella had printed out fot he four of us. Halloween is one of them, me and Alex going as minions whereas Arabella and Elias went as Papa Smurf and Smurfette.

"I'm this one," pointing at myself and my ridiculously big grin in the picture. It was one of the first moments where I felt truly included in our friend group. Don't get me wrong, they're all great, but I always felt a bit on the outside. Alex and Elias are best friends, and, well, Arabella and Elias are in a relationship. I couldn't find a way to be included, but thankfully, Alex picked up on that a few months in and made sure I was always chosen first as well.

"Never thought a minion could look sexy," Flynn smirks, sending me a wink before sitting down at the counter. I, again, draw a deep breath and finish our mocktails before joining him. He sin't being subtle when he says, "So, you wanted to meet?"

"Yeah," I mutter, feeling my cheeks flush. This never happens, why must it now? Oh, maybe because without this guy, you could be laying dead in a ditch.

"Listen, I wanted to thank you again for that night. I was irresponsible and stupid, and it could have ended really badly—" I stop babbling when I see him pulling a face.

"Nonsense," he says, sipping at his drink before noticing my face. He elaborates, "You would have done the same thing. No thanks. We're cool."

"But—"

"No, seriously, I don't want to hear it. I was just doing the right thing, that's it."

Well, okay then. "Did you want to do anything or do I have to go now?" he asks, a little teasing at me looking a little lost.

"Uh.... we could play a game?" I propose, not knowing what else to do. I mainly wanted to thank him and apologize for ruining his evening that night, but it seems he is hell-bent on not letting me do any of that. "We have a couple board games."

He nods, still flashing his white teeth with his smile. "Sure, but I have to tell you, I'm a master at any board game. You'll lose."

I grin. "I'll hold you to that."

Pulling him along to our board games closet, which was former known as a storage room for cloaks, umbrellas and shoes but quickly changed when we realized just how much board games Alex had, I hear his shocked noise. "You said a couple."

"Well, clearly you have never been in a toy store if you think this is a lot," I shrug, trying to decide which one we should play. Perhaps I could choose one so niche he won't know howto play, and then I'll prove him who's the master of the two of us. 

That is, before the front door, barely a few meters away, starts opening. The fuck? I hear my roommates' voices through it, once again, and realize we have five seconds, tops, before they notice us.

So, I do what any reasonable person would do and grab Flynn's arm, only to push both of us in the closet and lock the door. Sadly, this is a house of Alex' father, one for his real estate agency, so that means it has all the fancy lights. Which also means this light's only on when the door is open. Which it is not, anymore.

"What the actual—"

"Shut the hell up," I hiss at Flynn, placing my hand over his mouth. Luckily, that does shut him up, though I expected him to just lick it.

"Hey," I hear Alex' voice turning concerned, "where's Dante? He was going to stay home, and all the lights are on."

Okay, I have to think fast. I need to a) get Flynn out without them ever knowing he was here, b) show myself to Alex, quick, before he gets too worried and c) find a good excuse on where I was.

Sadly, my thoughts are ripped away from me when the door to our hiding spot suddenly opens, revealing a surprised Alex with a travel version of Uno in his hand.