Duets

(3) Not In My Castle On A Cloud

Drew has spent the past four hours sitting in his empty bathtub, scratching Caitlin's head as he waits for Olive to get home. He has tried talking to her on numerous occasions after the horrible ending to their date. As much as Drew tells her that it wasn't her fault, she can't shake the blame that she's the reason Ben had to interrupt their date.

"Look, I know, okay? I get it, Matt. He was really nice. I just wanted something to actually go well." Olive says loudly as her front door closes. She still hasn't really picked up on the whole thing about Drew being able to hear everything in her apartment. Especially when she slams doors or screams. Drew perks up, drawing Cait into his arms so that her dog tag doesn't clang against the metal bathtub.

"Matt, I don't really want this conversation right now. I'm just going to hop in the shower before going to bed. Yeah, I'll catch you later." The shower turns on in Olive's apartment, and Drew hops up, placing the puppy on the ground before pulling his shirt over his head. He undresses quickly, having waited hours past when he and Olive normally shower because she decided to take the long way home, even stopping by Ben's house, but that's something Drew won't find out if Olive can help it.

Drew turns on his shower, making Cait hop on to the closed toilet seat and stick her head barely into the water. Her owner laughs at her quietly before slipping his boxers off and stepping into the hot shower. He can hear Olive drag her shower curtain closed before she knocks on the wall separating them.

"Have you heard of Les Mis, Drew?" She shouts.

"Original cast or movie cast?" The brunette shouts back, running his face under the water. He hears her laugh, but it's not the same laugh he heard when walking with her or while he told her stupid jokes at dinner. This laugh is forced and hurts both Olive and Drew.

"There is a castle on a cloud, I like to go there in my sleep." Olive starts with Drew joining in on the fourth word. The song is short and fast, upsetting Drew that he won't have long to have some sort of connection with the girl next door.

As the song progresses, Drew can hear Olive's voice growing weaker and weaker, as she either doesn't have the breath to sing or the will. He doesn't know which it is until her voice cracks in the middle of a word and sobs emit from the other side of the wall. Drew finishes off the last two lines himself, "Crying at all is not allowed, not in my castle on a cloud." He shuts off the water, much to Caitlin's dismay, and steps out of the tub. He tosses all of his clothes in the hamper, except his underwear, which he pulls on while walking into his bedroom. He reaches into a drawer of his dresser and pulls out a pair of track pants. He quickly slips them and a clean t-shirt on before rushing over to knock on Olive's door.

"You know, at first, I wasn't going to answer, but then I figured I could see Caitlin." The brunette girl says, opening her door slowly and leaning against the door frame. She smiles at him as if she didn't just cry in her shower. The shower has washed away the tear stains along with most of her dripping eye makeup which was a result of both events. The only evidence that she even showered is the wet bun sitting on top of her hair. "Can I come over?"

"Of course." Drew answers, holding a hand out to her. She takes it carefully, stepping out of her apartment and shutting the door. She follows the taller boy into his apartment and sits down on the grey couch next to the Dalmatian, who looks just as happy to see her. "Hey, how are you?" He asks, raking his fingers across her knee, which is about the only thing he can reach without moving from where he sits on the other side of Cait.

"I'm fine. Um, Ben and I appear to have some unfinished business." She explains very shortly, holding on to one of the puppy's paws as her circles her thumb around one of her spots.

"You both have unfinished business, or he does? Because you don't have to finish it for him, you know?" Drew responds, not believing that Olive is already calling them quits. The thing is there isn't anything to call quits. They didn't even get there, but Drew can't give up his neighbor that easily.

"Both. I guess, he was right." She finally looks up at the boy but immediately regrets it after catching his sad eyes. "I guess, I do ruin people after all."

"No, you haven't ruined me, Olive." He tries to chuckle afterwards, but it comes off similar to how she sounded in the shower a few minutes earlier.

"It just would've been postponed. Something was going to happen eventually. I'm just glad it happened now and not months in." Drew is shocked that she thought they could've lasted months. He's usually lucky to get a third date. Second is always easy, but third is where he gets lost. By the second date most girls are expecting his extreme dorkiness to have just been an act, but that's Drew Morris.

"Olive, I don't want to be done with this." He admits.

"It's over, Drew." She says, simply. She wipes her eyes with both hands before forcing another giggle. "Sorry, my allergies are ridiculous right now." She excuses, standing from the couch.

"I'll catch you around?" The brunette boy makes it a question, hoping for reassurance in her answer.

"We'll see." She whispers, hugging him close to her for a few long seconds before exiting his apartment. Caitlin runs after her, scratching and pawing on the door.

"Yep. Me, too, Cait." He says, falling back down on to the couch. The Dalmatian walks back, hopping up on the couch and placing her head in his lap. "We'll get her back."