Craig and I sat down at my kitchen table. It had 2 seats. One was for me and the other was for Jay (since he basically lived here). I offered him a cup of coffee, but he refused it. I enjoyed my own cup.
"So," I said intelligently, sipping at my coffee, "You're here, why?"
Craig looked up. He looked frantic like he had thetime last summer whenhe was off his meds. I thought briefly of asking him if he had taken his medication, but then I thought against it. Telling Joey last time hadn't gotten me anything; in fact, it haddrawn Craig even farther away from me.
"Well I thought I'd come--" he began to say.
"Look, I know you want something from me," I interrupted plainly, "So just skip whatever you were going to say and tell me what it is you need me to give you."
Craig looked confused at first, but then he recovered.
"I don't need something...well I do," he said to me, "but that's not why I'm here."
"Then why are you here?" I asked again.
"I wanted to see how you've been," Craig said sincerely, "I realized that I miss being around you and want that to change."
At first I didnt' know whether to believe him or not, because I was fairly positive that this was only building up to whatever it was he needed. But I couldn't help but feel lighter. I wanted to make things right with Craig, and he wanted to too.
"I've missed you too," I said quietly, almost forcing the out words I'd been too embarrassed to tell anyone about, "So what do you need?"
"Well," Craig said cautiously, "I need a place to stay for about a week."
"What? Why?" I asked frantically, "You're not out on the streets again, are you?"
"No, no," Craig clarified, "Nothing like that. Joey's just really sick. He sent Angela off to her grandma's house and he sent me out on the streets."
"He just pushed you out because he was sick?" I asked angrily, "That's not right at all."
"Well," Craig said again, "I told him I could stay at Sean's house."
"But Sean's been gone for over a year..." I said, not quite catching on.
"Yeah, I know," Craig continued, "I just didn't want him to worry about me. I figured I could find somewhere. And if not, I've spent the night on the streets before. It's not that bad."
"Craig, you got beat up and your guitar was stolen..." I said stupidly.
"Yeah, but I can manage," Craig smiled independently.
"No no, you're staying here," I commanded.
Craig smiled brightly. "Thanks, man," he said happily, gripping my hand gratefully.
"Yeah, sure," I replied excitedly, thinking about what had just happened, "You can sleep on the couch. Oh...and uhh, Jay kind of comes over a lot. So if you have anything against two losers getting drunk every night and whining about how we're miserable...then I guess you shouldn't stay here."
"Nah, I don't mind," Craig said seriously, "Maybe I'll join the festivities."
"Well you'd have to be a loser to do that," I pointed out.
"I am a loser!" he exclaimed, "Ashley left me and all of my friends are paired off with someone. I am always the 7th wheel."
"Who would have thought Alex would find love in someone like Jimmy," I laughed.
:"Yeah," Craig responded, "I'm still really weirded out about that."
We were both silent for a few minutes before I stood up. I walked over to the fridge and looked inside.
"How did you find my apartment, anyway?" I asked Craig as I got an apple out of the fridge.
Craig laughed to himself, "You don't want to know."
"Okay then," I replied, agreeing with his statement, "Well do you want a tour or something?"
"Uhh...sure," Craig said uneasily.
I walked a couple feet to the right of Craig and stood next to the couch.
"This is the family room," I told him, "even if a family couldn't really fit into this room."
I walked a bit farther and stood in the wide doorway that led to my bedroom.
"I sleep in there. It's about the size of a jail cell, but I have a computer in there so if you need to use one..."
I trailed off and then started down to the end of the room. I pointed to a door on my right.
"That is the bathroom."
Craig looked at me, waiting for more.
"And that's the end of the tour," I specified, walking back over to Craig, "Oh, we're in the kitchen, by the way."
He smiled now and stood up. He looked at me gratefully for a few seconds and then he wrapped his arms around me, embracing me tightly.
"Thanks," he said, "for being so Spinner."
"No problem," I said, hugging him back. I wanted to stay in this moment forever. Craig and I were best friends again, and yet it seemed like we were more than that...even if Craig didn't know.