That Blue Gibson

CH 36

Dave sat on the edge of the bed in Krist's guest room, staring out the window into the backyard. Liz's house was dark, with just a bedroom light on the far side of the house glowing off the wooden deck. The clock next to his bed clicked over to 11:38, but he was wide awake. Feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket, he stood up to pull it free.

Go to sleep.

Dave looked back up at Liz's house, but couldn't see her in the dark windows.

I hate cuddling with Krist. He snores way louder than you. 

He hit send and looked up again. A few moments with no movement passed before the bedroom light across the deck went out. Dave sighed and set his phone on the nightstand, turning to stare at the tiny twin bed and trying to mentally prepare himself for a long night when a light tapping noise startled him. He spun around to Liz on the other side of his window, waving happily.

"Jesus fucking christ," Dave tried to slow his heartbeat as he opened the window and leaned down to her, "Who's the serial killer now?"

"It's me!" she laughed quietly, "Come over."

Dave stared at her for a moment, "What?"

"Walk over to my house. Like... you pick up one foot and then-"

"Yeah, hang on," Dave laughed and shut the window in her face.

*

"I do not snore," Liz grumbled as Dave walked out the back door of Krist's house.

"You absolutely do," he shot back, stopping just in front of her.

She glared at him a moment before letting a smile spread across her face. "Let's go."

Dave followed her across the lawn, waiting for her to close the arbor gate behind them. He looked around for any obvious flowers in her garden but saw none.

"It's fucking freezing," Liz grumbled, running up the steps of the wraparound porch and throwing open the door.

Dave hesitated a moment before following her inside and closing the door behind them. He looked around the small living room they were in, then realized Liz was watching him closely.

"You're quiet," she raised an eyebrow at him, "Krist showed you the Finsen Kid Box of Horrors, didn't he?" she crossed her arms and flipped on the gas fireplace before leaning against the mantle.

"He did, yeah," Dave looked down at the grey couch at his side and heard Liz sigh heavily.

"Well," she shoved away from the wall and threw herself onto the couch, "Let's get this over with."

Dave froze for a second, then walked around the couch to sit next to her. "Why didn't you tell me you knew Kurt?" he leaned forward on his knees and looked back at her.

Liz covered her eyes with her hand, horrified that Dave even brought him up. "I didn't know him," she said quietly, "He was here for a week and I annoyed the hell out of him the entire time." She moved her hand when Dave remained silent. "At what point in the past week would it have been appropriate for me to say 'Hey, by the way, I made your poor friend sit through an hour long tea party with my Barbies'?"

Dave felt himself smile at that, knowing that Kurt probably loved every second of that fucking tea party, "What about Krist?"

Liz shrugged, "I didn't want you to think I was some raging fangirl dropping names. My tattoo is bad enough."

"You told me about Nate, though."

"There was proof with Nate. I just didn't think I needed to unload all of my childhood onto you, mostly because this felt ephemeral," she looked down at the space between them on the couch.