Strong Enough

“I probably had a fast metabolism at your age, too.”

“If I can look half as good as you in ten years, I would be thrilled,” I told him honestly.

He rolled his eyes. “I don’t think you need to worry. So tell me what you’ve been up to this week, besides taking the bus. We haven’t had a chance to talk for days.”

As we ate, I filled him in on what I’d been doing the last three days. Jake had gotten in touch when he returned from the mountains, and he felt so bad about what had happened to me that he volunteered to get my four hundred dollars back.

“And did he?” Derek’s expression was shocked.

“He did.” I shrugged. “I have no idea how, but he gave me the cash yesterday morning.”

“That’s awesome.”

“It is. It means I can pay you the rent we agreed on, which makes me happy. And with what I’m making at the bar plus what I have saved already, I am confident I can afford an apartment. I’m looking at two places this afternoon.”

Two lines appeared between his eyebrows. “Are you? I didn’t know that.”

“I didn’t want to bother you. But I called two of the complexes we found the other day when we were looking, and they both have availability.”

“Oh.” He poked at some fruit on his plate. “When would you move out?”

“Both places start leases on either the first or the fifteenth. The first is a week from Monday, so that’s what I asked for.”

He nodded slowly. “Want me to go with you today?”

“That would be great, but you don’t have to. I understand if you’re busy.”

“I’m not busy. What time?”

“One is at two, and one is at three. I have to be at work by five-thirty.”

He nodded and continued eating. “What about screenwriting classes? Have you looked into those? Don’t you want to save for those?”

“I did a little research, yes. Classes are very expensive, so it will be quite a while before I can enroll. And I might want to take some English classes first, to make sure I know what I’m doing when I write. Speaking is one thing, but writing is another. It’s much harder.”

“What about a laptop? Don’t you want a new one?”

“I do, but the old one you gave me works great. If you’re okay with me using that for now, I will save for a new laptop in the future.”

“I’m fine with that. I just don’t want you to think you have to rush out of here and pay rent somewhere if there are things you need to save for.”

“I don’t think that at all. It’s tempting to go buy a shiny new laptop with the money I’m making, which is more than I’ve ever made before, but it wouldn’t be a very good decision. I need a place to live. A new computer and screenwriting classes are just things I want. They can wait.” I grinned at him. “This is me being practical and making a smart decision.”

He smiled, a little grudgingly. “Yeah. I guess it is.”

We finished breakfast, mostly in silence. It seemed like Derek’s mood had deteriorated a bit since he’d come downstairs, and I wondered if it was something I’d said. Could he be upset that I’d made appointments to check out apartments? Maybe he was offended I wanted to leave? Maybe he wished I’d told him about it first? But that had always been the plan, and as far as I knew, the plan hadn’t changed just because we were…whatever we were. Involved.

And I wasn’t an idiot. Equal footing aside, the longer I stayed here, the harder it was going to be to leave. Already I was thinking ahead to tonight, wondering if he was going to ask me to wake him again and hoping that he would. Maybe he’d even want me to sleep in his bed again, too. And maybe tomorrow morning, he’d sleep in and we’d wake up next to each other. It was the kind of romantic thing I’d never thought about before, but wanted to experience with Derek.

Everything was different now.

Twenty-Nine

DEREK

He wanted to move out.

I knew it was the right decision, but I hated the thought of it. A week from Monday, he’d be gone. Nine days. That’s all I had left.