And they were roommates

Birthday

One week later

I open my eyes to my alarm going off and see the date
My birthday
Not that I'm not excited per say, it's just different, ya know?
I mean, a few months ago, I planned on it being with him and hoped maybe it would make things a little better
No clue why I thought it would, but ya know
I look back at my phone and see a slew of messages wishing me a happy birthday
In an effort to get myself in a good mood, I turn on some music, pop on my headphones, and get ready for the day
The new dress I got at the mall plus some lashes and light makeup make me feel like a goddess and I'm suddenly much more ready for my birthday
I take some pictures of myself and decide to grab some breakfast
Leaving my room, I enter the kitchen to see a note on the table with a birthday card
"It sucks that I have work this morning but get ready girly! We're all going to dinner tonight to celebrate your birthday <3" -Karo
Inside the card is a Starbucks gift card and a little note
Just as I go to text her thanks, I get a text from Touya
"Happy birthday!! Wanna catch a movie? We could get lunch too, on me of course"
He seriously does too much for me
I don't know if it's wrong to think it, especially so soon after a breakup, but he is pretty cute. And not just in a physical way, I mean like, I'm the way he acts and treats people. Although, I'm not complaining about the abs either.
I respond to him first, saying
"I'd love to, lemme know what time works and I'll get ready :)"
I then respond to Karo, thanking her for the gift and telling her how excited I am for dinner
Of course, I text Seph next and gush over how excited I am for the day and my outing with Touya
While conversing with Seph, Touya responds with a time, 2pm
Well, seeing that I let myself slee til 12, I don't have much time to get ready
I rush into the shower, making sure to shave, double condition, the whole shabang
I decide that the perfect outfit would be the sun dress I got and a pair of sandals with some sunflower earrings and a simple little silver bracelet I had
I put together some random stuff I would need in my purse and checked the time
1:47, right on time
Within a few minutes, I get a text from Touya letting me know he was outside
I hurry out to his car and get in, looking up at him to see a big smile across his face
"That dress looks really good on you" he says, giving me a quick look up and down
"Thank you, and you look very nice too" god I can feel how red my face is
I've never been great at hiding my emotions
Especially not around people i- ....
Around people I what???? Huh brain??
It's too soon
Looking at Touya again distracts me though
He's wearing this outfit that really suits his style while also looking so comfortable yet put together at the same time. A nice pair of black skinny jeans can do that.
As we pull away, he turns up the radio and starts playing a song I know. We both kinda tap our fingers along to it as he drives
"So, where to for lunch?" I ask, realizing it was never discussed
"Somewhere where I know you love the food and it doesn't upset you're super sensitive stomach" he says, smirking
I smile back as the next song plays
Huh, it's another one of the songs I like
He doesn't exactly listen to all the same music as me, so why are my songs playing?
"Have I inspired your music taste?" I ask, pointing at the phone
"Well, yes and no, unlock my phone and check the playlist name. The password is my birthday"
I do as he says and go to the playlist to see it's name
Birthday girls mix
Now, listen, I'm an emotional gal. So when I say I mighta teared up a little, I mean I absolutely did
"Touya, that's so sweet! How did you know what songs to add to this? These are literally all songs I love"
"I take notes,you just don't realize it" he says, bobbing his head side to side with the second part of the sentence and then smiling at me
We keep giving to the music until we get to our lunch spot, Red Robin
"I know you're a chicken tenders and fries kinda gal, so I figured we might as well get your favorite chicken tenders and fries"
I thank him and give him a hug before he hops out of the car to open my door for me, helping me out of the car afterwards
We head in and order our drinks and food, making random jokes before and after
"So, what movie we gonna see?" I ask, leaning in and smiling
"I know you've been looking forward to seeing that new horror movie sooooo"
"Yes!! Oh my god I'm so excited! Thank you again Touya, you have no clue how much this all means to me"
I don't even realize that as I say this, I place my hand on top of his
Once the realization hits, we both kinda pause for a moment before I go to slowly slide my hand off, offering an awkward smile as I do
The waiter coming and placing the food on the table snaps me back into reality and we enjoy our meal, talking about random stories and things we think of as the conversation continues
After we finish our food, he offers me a hand to help me up from the booth and keeps my hand in his as we leave the restaurant and head out to the car
I'm not even sure if he realized he did it, but I'm definitely not gonna point anything out and scare him away from it
The mall is a short distance away so on the way, we discuss the movie and what we think is gonna happen in it
We decide to share a popcorn and a slushee and giddily head into the theater showing our movie
We managed to get seats right in the middle at the very back of the theater so we have a great view
We chat as the ads before the movie play and once the movie starts, we're already through a chunk of the snacks
Both being horror lovers, we were drawn in from the first few seconds of the movie
Normally, I'm too focused on the movie to think about anything else, but I'm overly aware of Touyas presence and how I feel around him
I don't think I've necessarily felt it before.
There's a warmth that radiates off of him in general, but there's some other similar feeling. Like I'm comfortable just existing around him, and I don't really feel that sort of comfort any other time
I'm so deep in my thoughts that I don't even realize Touya has snuck a hand around me, going to poke me from the other side while my guard is down
As his fingers make contact with my shoulder, I let out a yelp and coil back into my seat
Touya covers his mouth, obviously trying to hold back his laugh while other people in the theater have a giggle at my reaction
With my head in my hands, I feel his arm wrap around me and now pull me towards him in a sort of sideways hug
I accept, leaning into him and whispering
"You're an ass"
I feel his chest bounce as he quietly laughs a bit, which almost makes up for what he did
I mostly sit back the way I was after a moment, but he still keeps his arm laid across the top of my chair, gently rubbing my shoulder every time he feels me flinch from the movie
Part of me is worried that I'm reading into all of this
I mean, what are the chances that he actually has those kinds of feelings for me
He's a sweet guy in general, so this could all be simply because he wants to make this birthday special

Once the movie is over, we head right to dinner with our friends
The entire time, I catch Touya looking at me, looking away quickly when I catch him
I seem to not be the only one who notices , seeing that Karos eyes keep glancing between the two of us
After an amazing dinner, which included Keigo flirting with the waitress, we all make our ways out to the cars
Karo says she'll drive me home, and before I get in, Touya pulls me into a big hug, his warmth enveloping me. I hug him back, feeling my shoulders release a tension I didn't even know they were holding
When we pull away from the hug, he simply smiles and says "Happy birthday Misheru" before heading off to his car
I hop in the passenger seat and when I look to my left, I see Karo smirking with an expectant look on her face
"Soooo do you have something you're hiding from me?" She says, leaning back and crossing her arms, the smile still etched on her face
"Uhh...no?"
"Oh come on, you can't tell me you guys aren't together or at least talking! I saw how he was looking at you! And you didn't seem to mind it one bit" she says, reversing out of the parking spot, peeking over at me as she speaks
"We're not together and we're not talking. He has seemed a little more flirty lately though... Karo, is it bad to have for feelings for someone else already?"
"Misheru, when you and fuckface were together, you said the last chunk of the relationship felt like you wernt even together. I honestly feel like you mighta come to terms with the breakup before it even happened. And it's never too soon, especially when the other person did something so shitty. If you and Touya get together, the group will support ya, don't worry. But don't hold yourself back from something that makes you happy just because you're worried about other peoples opinions"
I nod silently, smiling a bit to myself
We ride home listening to songs from the musical we both love, jamming out the whole way
Once we get home and settle down, we sit on the couch in the living room and chill together for a bit, watching a movie on Netflix
I feel a vibration from my phone and check to see who it's from

Touya:
Hey, I somehow managed to forget to give you your birthday present, would you mind if I swung by tomorrow? We could always hang out for a bit at your place is Karos fine with it

I smile while I read it and hand my phone over to Karo to read as well
She smiles as well before handing it back
"Of course you can, I'm gonna be at work til like 9 anyways so it's not like you'll be bothering me."
And with that, I let Touya know that we're all good for tomorrow