I had lived with Ted for so long now--eight years, I think. It was rough a lot of the time, but every once in a while, on a golden sunday afternoon, we would have movie night.
Today, it was his turn to pick the movie and my turn to make the popcorn. The kernels started to pop in the microwave as I tried to figure out what movie Ted would bring back. Ted never picked from the same genre back to back, and the last time he'd picked it had been an action movie. That probably meant that tonight we'd be watching something with aliens in it.
My nose wrinkled as the slightly burnt popcorn smell wafted through the kitchen. I hated burnt popcorn, but that was how Ted liked his, and it was easy enough to do. The microwave chimed to signal it had stopped, so I popped out Ted's bag, put mine in, and set about pouring his into a bowl.
As my popcorn finished, Ted returned, movie in hand. He moved into the living room, popped in the movie, and set it up to play as I brought in the popcorn.
"So, what are we watching?" I asked, offering him his bowl of popcorn.
"You'll see," he replied, smiling at me. We sat down and I curled up next to him.
He'd picked a romantic comedy. Something set in high school about the girl wanting to be prom queen and have the nerdy, dreamy guy take her on a date or to the prom or something. It was cute and girly and I loved every minute of it. Ted had one arm thrown around my shoulders as we munched down on popcorn and watched the romantic tension build on screen. At one point, while the main character was fighting with her parents about how she was old enough to date/go to the prom/whatever it was she wanted to do, I looked over at Ted... and he was looking at me.
I smiled, a little awkwardly, and turned back to watching the movie. Ted was always taking care of me--in his stern, stoic way. He was great. Mostly.
One of the main character's jealous friends egged her car and the main character used it as an opportunity to bond with nerdy, dreamy guy. As he prepared to ask her out, I glanced back at Ted, who was still staring. "What? Do I have popcorn in my teeth or something?" I asked, reaching up to fix my hair.
"Huh? Oh. Uh. No, no, nothing like that. Sorry, I must have spaced out for a second. Did she say yes?"
"Duh she said yes, she's only been trying for that since the start of the movie."
What a weird movie night this turned into.