Saturday was just as fun. Darren called and got Garrett to come over and I got them both to come to my house. Excited, I opened the door. There they both stood. I pushed them out the door and took them out to the rocks for the view. This was getting to be just like it used to be. I didn't like it when my schedule got out of order. So now I had both Darren and Garrett's numbers, so I could contact them when we wanted to all get together. And we did that several times now. Darren seemed okay, but there were times when he'd just break down. And we all had to remind ourselves that we knew nothing that was going on in Darren's house. I tried to imagine one of my parents dead, but quickly pushed it out. I didn't like the thought of that at all. Darren didn't seem in one of his breaking down modes this time, though. He laughed heartily along with us and made several embarrassing jokes about Garrett and I getting together. I was heated, while Garrett just laughed at them.
Darren had rolled his eyes earlier in the day when Garrett had decided to pester me.
"Just date already!" he exclaimed.
I shook my head no and gave him the most disgusted look I could muster. Garrett was grinning widely until  I caught him in the corner of my eye, in which he quickly covered it up with an absolutely fake dumbstruck look. I rolled my eyes.
When Darren said he needed to go home earlier that day, I was about to insist we all go home. But Garrett remained at the rocks. So with a heavy sigh, I sat down cross-legged at the edge and looked out at the sky. Darren plopped down beside me and, a little more daringly, put his feet over the edge. The music I had set up on the radio was still playing softly. It was one of my favorites. The setting didn't feel as comfortable without Darren. I kept my shoulders tense, although Garrett was completely relaxed. He hardly ever was uncomfortable with other people. Eventually, I let loose the tension in my shoulders. I had one of those 'feeling stupid' moments. But I quickly swallowed it down. I put my feet over the edge and just sat there. He started gently tapping the toe of my shoe with his tennis shoes to the beat of the music. Butterflies soared in my stomach. They caught in my throat where I couldn't swallow them down. I felt stupid again. I was overreacting, but it was one of those nervous habits I couldn't get rid of. And the fact that it was Garrett didn't make it any better.
I didn't even halfway know what I meant when I said that. It had seemed to me we were just friends, but the more I thought about the subject, the more it confused me. So I just dropped it and sat there beside him. He never tried anything; never leaned in or offered me his jacket or anything stupid like that. And we never spoke. We just sat there, but that didn't make it any less enjoyable. It was just missing a small piece; Darren.