A Wall Between

Chapter 14

Sasha sat down on his bed and stared at the flowers Cooper had given him where they sat in a cup on his kitchen counter and focused on breathing slowly in and out. Had there been tension between them? That kind of tension? There definitely had been, right?

He wanted there to be, for something to be budding between them, but at the same time he didn't know what to do with that. It couldn't possibly go anywhere, could it? Cooper seemed like the kind of person who would want to spend all his time with whoever he was dating, and Sasha just wasn't like that. No matter how much he liked someone, he just wasn't built for that kind of relationship.

But Cooper had brought him flowers and they'd cuddled a little and talked about their feelings and then Cooper had left before Sasha could get too overwhelmed and it had been so nice. He wanted this to somehow work, but he just didn't think it could.

Sasha jumped as his phone pinged. He picked it up and was unsurprised to see a message from Cooper. It had been so long since anybody had texted him that he'd forgotten what sound it made.

Thanks again for the great night tonight, the message said.

Sasha never really knew what to say when people thanked him for things. 'You're welcome' seemed kind of right, but in a way where it usually wasn't actually. Even he realised that was awkward even if it was supposedly like... the most standard, default response you could give to someone thanking you. What did normal people say?

So Sasha Googled it and a list came up, because apparently he wasn't the only socially awkward person in the world.

'You're welcome' was the first suggestion, which made him feel a little vindicated, but he still wanted something different. 'No problem', maybe? Or 'my pleasure'? The last item on the list was 'thank you,' and it said to use that when you also had something to thank the other person for, so he chose that. He didn't know how to use italics in text messages, or even if you could, so he sent, 'Thank YOU,' instead.

A few seconds passed, and then he heard Cooper laugh out loud from the apartment next door. Sasha could feel his face going red, but he was smiling as well.

#

On Monday afternoon, as he lay around on the bed and waited for Ellie and Abra to get home from work, Cooper's phone rang. He hoped it was Sasha calling, as he'd hoped every time his phone rang since he'd given Sasha his number, but so far it never had been and Cooper didn't fancy his chances of that changing. Sasha didn't like talking on the phone, and that was fine.

Unfortunately, it was much worse than just not being Sasha. It was his mother.

Cooper considered ignoring it, but he knew from past experience that if he did that, she'd just keep calling, and then get his dad to try calling, and it wouldn't stop until Cooper finally gave in.

Cooper flopped back down on the bed and answered the call. "Hi."

The familiar sound of his mother sighing was the first sound Cooper heard from the other end of the line. "Cooper, that isn't how I taught you to answer the phone."

Cooper made a face. "You taught me to say 'hello, Cooper speaking,' but this is a mobile phone. I know it's you. That would be weird."

"And simply saying 'hi' isn't? What about 'hi, mum, how are you?'"

"I'll keep that in mind for next time," Cooper said. "Is there something specific you wanted to talk about, or...?"

"Well, I thought we might have a conversation about how you've been doing and what's going on in your life first. We haven't talked in... oh, I don't even know."