Life After You

Friends

"Yes mom. I'm doing alright," I hummed as I paced around my kitchen.

Phoning my mom was always a hit or miss. I know that she meant well, but my mom was always worried about how I was doing without Ollie. It was nice talking to her, but I didn't like the constant reminder of how lonely I was.

"Did something happen?" She gasped. "Usually you say you're fine."

I rolled my eyes with a small laugh, she was right about that. Usually I gave her a half ass lie about how im doing fine when in fact I'm very much not so. But things seemed to be looking up, even if it was only slightly.

"Well for your information I got a job at Grover Grocery," I said proudly. A small smile growing on my face as I looked down at my feet.

"Well about time! I wouldn't be surprised if you ran out of Ollies life insurance money by now," She replied rudely, immediately knocking me back down to earth.

I furrowed my eyebrows, "That was uncalled for."

She let out a prolonged sigh, "You know its true Dan."

"Ill talk to you later," I frowned before hanging up the phone and tossing it on the counter.

I adverted my eyes towards the window, watching the leaves on the trees sway in the autumn breeze. As gloomy as it was, it had been raining so much lately that it was nice to see the overcast sky.

Why did my mom have to be such a bitch? Like I know that I wasn't the easiest to talk to sometimes, but why couldn't she just give me even a little bit of support.

A knock at my door brought me out of my thoughts. Who in the world could be at my house on a sunday?

I made a beeline for the door, curiosity taking over me as I wondered who was on the other side.

"Oh? Hello Phil," I gasped a little as I opened the door to see my new friend on the other side.

The energy Phil oozed just standing there smiling almost seemed to bring me an ounce of warmth on this cool day. I had only known him a few weeks now and I already couldn't believe the impact he had on my well being.

"Hey, sorry to stop by unannounced. I had some errands to run today, and didnt feel like going home yet," He told me with a small chuckle. "So I thought id stop by and ask you if you wanted to grab some lunch with me!"

I couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm. God, he was just like Ollie in every way; it was uncanny really.

"Me?" I asked awkwardly, blinking back at him like he had asked me some crazy math question or something.

Phil nudged my arm with a laugh, "Well unless theres a different Dan Howell here, of course I meant you."

Part of me knew that I was getting too involved with this new guy. I knew it was good for me to have a friend, but deep down I knew I was just comparing him to Ollie.

"Well alright then," I hummed with a small smile. "Let me grab my keys."

I turned and jogged towards my kitchen, quickly grabbing my keys and my phone from the counter. Turning on my heels quickly as to not leave him waiting, not realizing that he had followed me inside.

"Nice place you got here," Phil beamed as I tried to regain my balance.

My heart beat fast in my chest, the adrenaline pumping as I felt a slight panic attack come on. I hadn't really had anybody in my house since Ollie died. Even though I had invited Phil over before, we had stayed out in the front porch. Nobody had ever stepped foot in my actual house for a year and a half, in hopes that I could preserve how Ollie left things.