Dan opened the cupboard, moving the box of biscuits to reveal nothing. Absolutely nothing. Yet, he knew that there was supposed to be something taking up that spot. He slammed the cupboard door and turned around. "ELLA!" he yelled, anger rising in his voice. "DID YOU EAT MY MALTESERS?"
"NO!" she replied from her room.
He marched down the hallway and thrust her door open. "Liar!" he hissed. "Who else would have eaten them?"
Ella rolled her eyes, not looking up from her laptop. "You get too attached to food."
"Maltesers are not just food, they are sex."
She closed her laptop and set it aside. "Then you're accusing me of eating your sex?" she snickered, getting off of her bed.
"That's not it, either. You also drank all of the milk yesterday."
"I don't even like milk, Dan. I used it in my cereal."
"Like it makes a difference. You didn't leave any for my cereal," he sneered.
She stood facing him, yet at a disadvantage being about four inches shorter than him. "Well at least I don't walk around eating all of your cereal without milk."
"So you're comparing yourself to Phil now?"
"Well, why the hell not?" she asked, more of a rhetorical question.
"I guess you're right. He is a much better flat mate than you are," he said. She glared at him, knocking him out of the way and walking out of her room. She pulled her phone out, typing on the keypad. She grabbed her jacket. "Where are you going?" he asked.
"To my boyfriend's house. Where someone respects me."
He laughed. "I sure as hell aren't coming with you, so who exactly are you talking about?"
"Michael."
"Oh really? You better hope you don't walk in on him fucking Lilah."
She stopped. "What?"
Suddenly Dan was snapped back into reality. Shit, he thought. "Nothing," he said, back at his normal tone.
"Who's Lilah?" she questioned, her voice shaky.
"Nobody," he murmured, sitting on the couch. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the look on her face, and he felt his heart sink into his stomach. She looked as if she wanted to cry. He had heard about the fact that her boyfriend had cheated on her from Phil; who always seemed to know what was going on, probably due to the fact that he was slightly more social than Dan. He hadn't planned on telling her, but being the possessive idiot he was, it had slipped.
She started walking to the door, repeatedly murmuring something under her breath. He was just able to make out what she was saying. "He's lying. Michael would never cheat on me."
He could tell by the sound of her voice that she wasn't far from crying. He had only seen Ella cry in front of him once before. He couldn't handle girls crying. He wished he had done something that day, but being his awkward self, he didn't.
"Ella!" he called. "Do you want to go get some Starbucks?"
He didn't hear a reply, so he walked down the hallway, knocking on her door. Once again, there was no reply, yet he heard what sounded like her sleeping. He opened the door. "Ella?" he asked quietly.
There she was, makeup staining her face and tears rolling down her cheeks. Quiet sobs were escaping her mouth and she had her blanket pulled up past her chest. She was staring at the wall, completely ignoring Dan's existence. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine," she choked out.
He looked at his feet, nodding quickly and backing out of the room.
He still had no idea what that was about. He only knew he felt utterly helpless that day, going to his room and not coming out. He didn't even do anything; he only curled into his bed and stared at the wall for hours on end. Sometimes, he had the weirdest feelings when it came to Ella. It was indescribable. He heard the door close and turned his head to see that she was gone. He lounged across the couch and stared up at the ceiling. What's going to happen now? he thought. Is she going to come back?
He must have been staring at the ceiling for an hour. His phone started ringing and he picked it up, surprised at the time. He looked at the caller ID. Ella. "Hello?" he answered.
"Dan-" sniff "Can you come pick me up?" sniff "I can't drive."
"Yeah, yeah. Of course," he mumbled. She hung up.
He jumped up and hurried towards the door, taking his keys. He quickly walked down the hallway and to the elevator, then to the garage and got in his car. He drove down to Michael's complex and stopped out front, taking out his phone. He dialed Ella's number. "I'm here," he said.
"I see you," she replied.
A minute later the passenger door swung open and she got in. Dan glanced over at her. He quickly looked back forward. He couldn't stand to see her like that. "What about your car?" he asked.
"I'll deal with that later."
He started driving back towards the flat. "Uh... Do you wanna stop and get something to eat?"
"I'm not hungry."
They sat in silence until they arrived at the flat. The ride that usually took a few minutes seemed to take days. Occasionally he would look over at her just to make sure she was okay. Well, as okay as she could be. As he pulled into the garage he jumped out quickly and ran to the other side to open her door for her.
"Thanks," she mumbled.
He watched as she slumped miserably up to the flat. They stood in an awkward silence in the elevator. He looked at the reflective surface of the wall, trying to make it seem like he wasn't looking at her. She just continued to look at her feet. As the lift doors opened, they walked down the hall and Dan unlocked the door and let her in. He dropped his keys on the coffee table and watched as she went into her room and closed the door. He sat on the couch and stared up at the ceiling again. He couldn't stop thinking about Ella. He knew that he had only stared at the ceiling for a few moments, because soon he heard a vaguely familiar sound, but this time he knew what it was. She was crying. He stood up and walked down the hall slowly, clutching the doorknob in his hand. He wanted to go in and do something, but he didn't know what to do. On a limb, he opened the door. She looked up at him. The fact that she could still look beautiful while crying took his breath away. He took a step in and closed the door behind him. It made a creaking noise. He slowly walked over to her bed and sat down next to her. She was looking at her hands in her lap. He studied her for a second. She looked the same she did from a few moments ago, aside from the fact that instead of a few occasional tears rolling down her cheeks, there was a constant flow. "Ella," he whispered, taking her hand.
She didn't say anything. The only sound that left her mouth were quiet sobs.
"Ella," he repeated. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way."
"It could have been worse," she paused. They sat in silence for a minute. "How long have you known?" she asked.
He swallowed. "A week or so. I didn't want to tell you because..." I knew it would break your heart.
She seemed to understand what was unspoken. "I would have rather wanted to know. I wouldn't have wanted to waste any more time with him."
"I'm sorry," he said again.
She sniffed. "It's okay. I guess it wouldn't have made a difference of how I'd feel right now," and with that, she burst into tears again.
Dan got closer to her, putting his arms around. That's when realized it was his first time hugging her. Phil had hugged her before, but that was more predictable. He was more of a hugging person. She didn't seem to think anything of it. She only continued to cry, yet now into his chest. She shook in his arms slightly, due to her sobbing, so he pulled he closer. After a couple minutes, the crying ceased. "I sorry," he heard her say.
"For what?" he asked.
She backed away from him slightly. "For putting you in such an awkward position. It doesn't take a genius to notice how uncomfortable you are with me crying."
"I'm not uncomfortable," he retorted. "I'm only worried."
She looked at her hands. "I think I'm going to go to sleep."
Did I say something wrong? he wondered. "Okay," he replied, timidly. He stood up and walked towards the door, stopping before he went to open it. He turned around. "You know you can always talk to me, right?"
She nodded. He turned back around and left her room, walking across the small hall to his. He took off his pants and shirt, which was damp with a bit of makeup smears on it one area, off, tossing them into a random pile. He sat in his bed against the wall and grabbed his laptop, opening it to tumblr. He started scrolling through his dash, hoping to find something to cheer him up, but he couldn't. He closed his laptop and set it aside, lounging out on his bed and staring up at the ceiling. What was it with him and ceilings today? He sat there for who knows how long, up until he heard his door creak open. He turned his head to see Ella standing in the doorway. Her eyes were red again and filled with tears. She slowly stepped closer and sat on the edge of his bed. She didn't seem to care that he was only in boxers.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
She ignored his question. "Can I sleep here tonight?"
He moved over a bit to make more room for her. "Of course, yeah."
She pulled her legs up and rolled onto his bed, almost in a rollie-pollie kind of way. Dan smiled slightly. She blinked, and he watched as more tears rolled down her cheeks. He couldn't stop himself from reaching out and wiping them away.
She touched her hand to her cheek lightly, almost trying to relive what she just felt. His touch was so soft and gentle, and she almost wanted for it to happen again. It was so much more caring, and she longed for it so much more than she ever did for Michael. Michael. She tried not to get lost in her thoughts as she heard Dan beginning to speak.
"I probably wouldn't trust someone I met over the internet."
She paused, slightly tensing up. "I met you over the internet."
"Sometimes I forget that. I just know you so well, you know? I mean, you trust me right?" he asked. She could feel how he was tensing up next to her, too.
She thought for a minute. "Yeah. I wouldn't be living with you, let alone sleeping next to you if I didn't."
The tenseness seemed to wash away after that.
Things went quiet. Ella decided to speak. "Here's some better advice for you; don't fall in love," as she said that, she could feel tears forming in her eyes. "You always know love leads to heartbreak," she finished, letting the tears fall.
Dan put his arms around her again, pulling her closer to him. She formed into his body, for once her height being an advantage. "Love isn't always bad," he whispered into her ear.
She could feel his hot breath on her neck. Her cheeks flushed red, but due to all her crying didn't make much of a difference.
Dan continued to hold her like that until he heard her breathing slow, knowing she was asleep. He closed his eyes, even though he wouldn't be falling asleep anytime soon. He knew at that moment exactly how he felt about Ella. Her advice had come a bit too late.
