" you know, i remember you saying last time was going to the be last time. you missed me that much? "

         “ and i remember telling you that you needed to stop thinking everything was about you. that was the day we broke up, too. ” there’s no real heat behind the words, the curve of her mouth making it pretty clear that she was just teasing. “ i’m only here because our dads love having their old boys club, but you already knew that. ” they’re standing a little too close — closer than what was wise, most likely — and she lifts a hand to let it rest against his chest, patting once, twice as if to console. “ i can see why you’re projecting, though. guess i can let it slide for today. ”

"can it wait?" ravi echoed back, gently scratching the side of his face. "i-i get it. you're probably exhausted...but how long are we going to avoid this conversation?"

         “ what conversation? there’s nothing we need to talk about. ” it’s a poor attempt at deflection if she’s ever seen one, and she finds that she can barely hold his gaze without feeling as if she was crawling out of her skin. “ and i’m glad you’re letting me crash, but i’ll be out of your hair soon, if that’s what you were worried about. ” it wasn’t, not really, and they both knew it — but she’ll be damned if she’s the first to crack. pretending felt safer somehow, made everything less real ; and if she tried hard enough, she might even get herself to believe that it was all just a fucked-up dream.

❝ didn't you have a date tonight? bringing him here would be in bad taste, doesn't do a lot for the codependency allegations we have going around right now. my therapist would probably laugh in my face. ❞

         “ you told your therapist about me? ” there’s an exaggerated gasp following the words, and she’s putting a hand on her chest as if she’s moved. “ way to make a girl feel special, axford. if i didn’t know better, i’d think you used to have feelings for me. oh wait — ” here she pauses, trying and failing not to laugh ; and it’s a little too soon, maybe, but she’s trying to brute force her way into normalcy the only way she knows how. “ but to answer the question — no, i don’t. i mean, i did, but he had to take a rain check. something about chel night with the boys? whatever that means. right after i took the day off from work, too. which kinda sucks, but . . . ” she trails off, then, letting the shrug speak for itself.

❝ you don't own me. i'm not your girlfriend, so i can go home with whoever i want. god knows if you had found someone else to take home tonight, you wouldn't even notice if i was still here or not. ❞

         “ never said i did. ” he responds, painfully blasé, the tight set of his jaw being the only indication that it bothered him at all. “ just thought you should know that he’s the type who gets around. a lot. more than the average guy in this hellhole, probably. ” he lets the words stew, just a bit, before pressing on. “ but hey, whoever you wanna go home with? that’s your business. just thought you should be able to make an informed decision. ”

KARINA 260206

         “ why are you saying that like it’s a dig? of course i’m chronically online. like, it’s normal, dude. it’s so normal. you know who isn’t chronically online? spinsters. do you expect me to have the internet habits of an eighty-year-old woman from rural idaho? do you want to go out with someone who has their font size set to max? i don’t think so. ” he fires back, and he knows that’s neither here nor there, but god forbid anyone ever discusses his screen time. he sounds ridiculous, probably, and she was certainly looking at him like he was — but for all the talking they’ve been doing, he got the sense that she still wasn’t getting it, and he moves to say as much. “ you have to understand that the whole thing wasn’t actually funny to me, right? like, i don’t think you get that. it was pretty fuckin’ uncomfortable, actually, like i had cheese everywhere and i didn’t have a change of clothes so i had to borrow a spare uniform from jonesy that hasn’t been washed like — two years, probably, and i had to walk around in it for six hours because of course this happened super early into my shift. it wasn’t funny, dude. i just told the story in a funny way because i thought it would make you laugh. like i don’t mind embarrassing myself if it’s for you. it’s just everyone else that i’ve got an issue with, dude. and yeah, yeah, they don’t know it’s me, but i know they’re just absolutely cheesin’ — oh, goddammit. no, that pun was not intentional, and no, you are not allowed to point it out. line in the sand. i’m drawing it. it’s right here. ” he fixes her with a look, gaze intent, wordlessly daring her to mention it — and then he heaves a sigh, woefully unimpressed. “ they would one hundred percent point at their little phones and say, ‘ hey, that’s the dude who bagged the hot chick from the radio and didn’t have enough sense to go around without smelling like cheese ’. they’d post about it, too. and they’d find my instagram. and my mom’s. next thing you know, it’s thanksgiving and we haven’t spoken in months, but my roblox-addicted nephew is still calling me uncle parmy john. ” most of it is spoken in a single breath somehow, so he takes his time to collect himself before he can even think to continue ; and he exhales when he does, some of the tension leaving his shoulders. “ i mean, you could just talk about shit from three years ago and just say it’s recent, you know? like, if it’s embarrassing, leave me out of it. of course, if you wanna tell them that i’m like — an absolute specimen, then who am i to stop you, but dude. ”

         “ people breathe weird before they tackle you? wasn’t expecting to hear those words in that order. ” the information punches a laugh out of him, and he meets the other’s gaze head on, a little incredulous — but he takes the other’s hand as it’s offered, gives it a brief shake. “ lukas, but you didn’t need me to tell you that. you notice everything, apparently, even the way people breathe. ” he follows tom’s gaze, then, and he keeps his eyes fixed on his friend ( their friends, really, the nightmarish pair of them ) as his brows pinch together. he hesitates, just a bit, the voice that lives in the back of his mind catastrophising the rest of the night — but hunger wins out eventually, and he gives a short nod, the motion more for his own benefit than tom’s. “ i could eat. worst comes to worst, they could always call 911. not our problem. ” he says, and he doesn’t mean it in the slightest ; even so, he’s landing on solid ground the next second, giving the front of his jacket a tug. “ there’s this diner about two blocks down if you wanted enough grease for a coronary. you wanna take the truck or you wanna walk it? ”

Inde Navarrette as Nikki Freeman Obsession (2026) dir. Curry Barker

         “ i mean i knew ’cause duh, you told me, but you didn’t tell me that your viewers — listeners, whatever — were so up to date, dude. i thought we were on like, season seven of your dating life and they were just hearing about season four or some shit, you know? i didn’t know that everything i did was at risk of being public fuckin’ knowledge. ” and maybe there was a better way to talk this out ( gabe was almost positive that there was ) , but it’s hard to picture himself acting any other way when nour was looking at him like he was crazy. “ i don’t mind if you talked about me like, years down the line ’cause if i mess up then i definitely deserve that, but come on. the cheese thing happened last week. last week, nour, and you were talking about it like three days later. and i told you about it ’cause it was a funny ha ha story from work and i thought it would make you laugh. i didn’t think it was going to make, i don’t know, half the entire city laugh. i don’t really know what your viewership is. listenership? i don’t fucking know, dude, just — ” he takes a deep breath, trying to force some of the frustration out of his tone, if only temporarily — the better to paint the picture he had in his mind. “ let’s say everything goes well. we agree to be exclusive, go instagram official or whatever. you post a single photo of me and i guarantee that there’s going to be a bunch of dumbasses commenting stuff like ‘ bro smells like cheese ’ and ‘ no way she’s dating mr cheese touch on god ’. you wanna know how i know? because i’d be doing the same fucking thing, nour. i’d be piling on some poor schmuck on the internet who got meme-ified. that’s what you did to me, nour. you meme-ified me. ”

         “ you know what? ” here she pauses, making a show out of tilting her head as if to consider. “ i think it was was definitely the buttons. didn’t you take her to de marzio? no one leaves before the main course at de marzio. maybe she’s some immortal creature and shiny buttons are her only weakness, so she had to leave for her own safety. it’s the only logical explanation, if you ask me. ” she allows herself a small smile, then, hoping it could communicate all the things she was trying to say. erik didn’t need her to point out how much of a bummer this was — he already knew — so she makes room for him instead, holding the door open a little bit wider before leading him into the house. “ come in. i’ve got leftovers and mind-numbing tv if you want ’em. ”

thomas 'tom' callahan. 26. construction worker, ex-wrestler.

         the play-by-play draws a snort, and he relaxes marginally into his seat — because while tom wasn’t entirely familiar, everything else was. he’s lost count of every invitation he’s taken up on, promising a good time, only to be forced into the sidelines as the pair of them tore into each other. at least now he didn’t have to sit through it alone, lukas supposed. misery loves company, and all that. “ field experience, huh? yeah, i’ve done one tour in no-way-this-lasts-more-than-a-month, another in how-the-fuck-are-they-still-dating, and now i’m halfway through holy-shit-they’re-perfect-for-each-other-in-a-fucked-up-sorta-way. ” he’s counting with his fingers as he lists them off, and he jerks his chin towards the other when he finishes, a silent prompt to elaborate. “ and you? i mean, you read that play perfectly, man. ten out of ten. there’s no way they haven’t brought you around before. ” and it’s strange, now that he realises, that he’s only ever run into tom once or twice. “ wait, ” he blinks, just as the thought occurs to him, “ do you think they’ve been alternating inviting me or you whenever one of us gets tired of their shit? ”