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It was a cool, crisp, Thursday night in Ryan’s apartment. He hadn’t done much at all with his time, he had recently just gotten off work at the office. He never really liked it there, I mean, who would? It was dull, grey, and depressing. He would go in and out every single day just to earn enough for a half assed meal and beer.
The people there were just as bad. They were either too much of stuck up assholes to give him any mind or they were mindless zombies working for the same shitty pay he was. He only took the job because of the opportunity to be useful to the world, he was always told how much of a lazy shit he was, so getting a seemingly successful job sounded good. But after starting to work there, he soon learned it was a depressing mess. Nothing there was worth his time at all.
Except one thing… or rather, person
June. She was the only person who gave him any mind, she would talk to him every day before, during, and after work. She wasn’t the best at everything when it came to work, she was constantly late and always stumbling around the place. But to Ryan, it was endearing, it was cute in a way. She was the one thing that kept Ryan coming in and out of the office everyday. He cared for her a lot. He would simply smile at just the sight of her. He had always considered if he had deeper feelings for her, he decided to not really dwell on them too much. He hadn’t wanted to ruin anything they had or will have.
But either way, she was always there to make his day better. That was until these past few days. She had stopped showing up, no heads up to him, nothing. He decided to ask his manager about it and he said that June had called out sick for a few days and should be back soon. This was able to sooth his nerves a bit, but he still felt a little worried for her. June was the kind of person who would show up with puffy eyes, ghastly face and a shit ton of tissues stuffed up her nose just to get her hours in. It puzzled him and he was thinking about it over the past few days.
BZZZZ. BZZZZ
Ryan’s phone was going off. It was a call from… June? He instantly picked up the phone.
“Hello? June? What’s up man?” He said in a chill and casual tone
“Hey Ryan… I was wondering if you were free to come over? If you're busy that’s fine. I just wanted to see you if you could.”
Ryan looked at his current situation. He was sitting in his hot ass apartment, drinking a beer can, shirtless, and watching some random ass game show with a bunch of lunatics in it.
“Yeah I'm free! I’ll be over in a bit, I just need to change into something real quick.”
“Okay, hope to see you soon.”
The way she sounded, she seemed upset. She was upset differently than any other time she has. She didn’t have that ‘this suuuucks’ kind of tone, she had a sadder, more distressed tone. He knew he needed to head over there right away. He quickly threw on a plain grey t-shirt and headed out the door with his keys.
-
June's apartment was only a 20-30 minute drive from Ryan’s. It was a decently sized complex with many buildings, which was smart of her for buying one of these ones as the specific ones here are quite cheap. Too bad for Ryan as once one unit is put for sale it instantly gets scooped up. He made his way up the stairs. She was on the third floor, a decent way up, at least for Ryan's weak ass legs.
He soon made it to the door, he knocked a few times. Nothing. He knocked once more. Still nothing. He was about to do it a third time before the door opened up to reveal June, she looked… rough. She was in a pair of tattered shorts and her button up work shirt. The shirt was unbuttoned all the way revealing a top she had on, Ryan did his best not stare like a weirdo.
“Um… so, do you want me to come in?”
“Uh… yes please…” June said with a sad tone.
Ryan walked slowly inside, he was concerned with June’s tone. The place was warmly lit. It wasn't as stuffy on the inside as it typically was. It was humid on the inside, probably because her sliding door was open. June and Ryan sat on the small couch in her living room. Ryan looked at her with worry. He waited for what she was gonna say.
She finally spoke up.
“Do… Do you hate me?”
Ryan looked at her with shock. And then sadness. “What makes you think that I would hate you???” He had a sense of worry in his voice. “I don’t understand why I would?”
June looked at him with watery eyes. “I don’t know. The others have been telling me that, recently I've been dead weight. They were telling me that I'm dragging them behind and slowing down wherever we went.” June’s eyes started to pour out. “When I started to get upset they just told me to “get over it.” and to “stop being such a baby.” I’m not sure if you had thought the same way.” Her eyes were now pouring out more and more. She tried wiping her eyes. It wouldn’t stop, it just kept coming. “And I-I hope th-that I d-don’t make you feel the s-same way.”
Ryan looked at her with an expression that he didn’t know how to describe. He was shocked but also upset? There’s probably a word for it but he doesn’t know it at the moment. He started to feel his eyes water up. “June… no no no no no no.” He forced out a calm and reassuring tone. “You don’t make me feel that way. Y-You could never.”
June looked at him with a sense of confusion. “Why not? Y-You don’t like it wh-when things waste your time…”
Ryan had expressed that before. He never liked things wasting his time or taking up space. But June, at least to him, never did that. “No… I mean… you're right, I don't like it when things waste my time… but you don’t do that! You never did that.”
June wanted to speak up but before she could Ryan put a finger up. “There has never been a moment where I thought I never wanted to see you. I always want to see you. I like the silly things you do at the office everyday, hell! You're the only reason I go to work everyday. I enjoy our break room talks, our top floor smoke breaks, our Friday night bar visits. I enjoy every bit of time together. When you stopped coming in over the past few days, I… Well, I didn’t know what to do. I was more drained and tired and I had never missed you more than I did then. I care so much about you, I never want to see you be dragged down by people you call ‘friends’. You should never have to go through that.” He began to fumble his words. He was running out of things to say to her. There was only one real thing that he thought could work. But was it really worth the risk? “I…” He hesitated. To him, this was worth that risk. “I’ve even started to have feelings for you too, I just never really thought much about them until now. But if any of that wasn't enough to prove that I could never hate you, then I don’t know what will.”
June looked at Ryan for a moment. Her eyes seemed to have lightened up before she pulled him into a hug. She sobbed into his chest, getting his shirt wet with her tears, he didn’t mind, however. He placed a hand on her chin before lifting her head up.
“Hey man, it’s gonna be okay.”
June looked at him with puffy eyes. She placed her hands on his head, before Ryan knew it she had pulled him into a kiss. It was gentle and slow. Ryan had wished his lips weren’t so chapped, but June’s were really soft. All he knew was that himself from a few months ago would have been really upset and jealous. He leaned more into it after the initial shock. They pulled away after a few seconds. June looked a thousand times prettier than before.
June looked scared and upset. “I… oh god I'm sorry. I didn’t mean too!”
Ryan chuckled a bit. “No no it’s okay man. I really liked it. I mean, I did say I kinda had a thing for you… so.”
June laughed and hugged Ryan again. She said something in a low and desperate tone. “Please don’t go.”
Ryan placed a hand on her hair and ran his hands through it. “Don’t worry. I’ll be here for as long as you need me to be here.”
June made a soft little noise of approval as she began to drift off. Ryan knew she was sleepy and probably was from all the sobbing she had been doing for the past few days. “Here, how about we go to bed? You seem tired and I want you to rest. Sounds good?”
She nodded her head without saying anything. Ryan smiled softly. He stood up with one of June's arms strung around his shoulders. He walked her to her room, a small bed made for at the very least two people, perfect for him. He laid her down before getting in the bed himself. June curled up next to him, wrapping her arms around his thin body. She buried her face in the crook of his neck, slowly breathing. Her soft and warm breath was soothing to Ryan, god she was so cute. To him, this was a dream come true. The girl he liked kissed him and is now in bed with him, what more could he ask for? Well, probably a-
“I love you…” June said in her hazy dreamy state.
Ryan’s face began to flush red. She probably wasn’t really thinking about it too much. Hell, she probably wasn’t thinking at all. But that didn’t matter to Ryan. He wrapped his arms around her body. It was soft and warm against his cold clammy hands, it felt so since. Ryan buried his face in her hair as he gave light kisses. He soon began to drift off, it was hard not to. He hoped that when he woke up that this wouldn’t end. He began to think, are they still considered friends? Are they dating? Do they really love each other? However, he decided not to think about it. Just so long as they can continue doing this was all he needed to know.
“I love you too…” He said before finally drifting off to sleep.