Heroic Acts

Twenty Five

"Oh, well, alright," Seth said, stepping aside and motioning for Darien to come in.

As Darien went inside he looked around, almost a little confused. The room was nearly spotless, and he had never seen it like that before, really. He looked over at Seth.

"Uh, where might my things actually be? This place looks really clean and I don't think they're where I left them," Darien said.

"I placed a lot of it neatly in the closet and in part of the dresser, I hope you don't mind," Seth said quietly. Darien nodded and began to gather his things. He opened one of the dresser drawers to find girly t-shirts and women's underwear. He closed it, a little too quickly, and opened another one to find some of his own things.

"So," Darien began. "Does your girlfriend live here with you?"

"Girlfriend?" Seth asked.

"The girl you took to the dance last night," Darien answered. Seth laughed a little.

"Darien, that is NOT my girlfriend," he said with full sincerity.

"Oh, please, you guys were sucking face half the night, you don't need to lie," Darien said, almost bitterly.

"So.. so it's true? I really did kiss her?" Seth asked quietly.

"If you consider a half hour of aggressively making out a kiss, then sure," he said. "Why? Didn't you know that?"

"Darien, we were plastered. I felt so bad in the morning when I realized what might have happened. I can't really remember anything after that," Seth admitted.

"Oh," was all Darien had to say. He continued gathering the rest of his things out of the dresser. Seth watched him, and he felt himself start to panic. This may be the last time he'd really ever get to speak to Darien, so he had to do what he could to make it last.

"I just wanted to apologize again," Seth blurted out.

"For what?" Darien asked, but his attention stayed on his things.

"For missing you. In the hospital. I really didn't mean it, I promise," Seth said, almost sounding pathetic. Darien scoffed.

"Andy told me you weren't coming, of course you meant it," he said.

"Andy? I told Andy I'd be on my way," Seth said.

"Yeah, but then you weren't," Darien snapped, turning away from his things.

"Yeah, because my tires were slashed! I told you this, Darien," Seth said.

"I always thought that was a bold lie to use. Your tires are absolutely fine," Darien said.

"Only because Caroline helped me pay for four new ones! I didn't have that kind of money at the time," Seth said.

"Caroline, huh? That's her name?" Darien said, turning back to his things.

"Yes, why?"

"I was just always curious, you seem to have a lot of affection for her. Like you love her," Darien said, looking over his shoulder at Seth.

"Well, I do love her, in a way. Like, not LOVE love, but she's my best friend," Seth said. "Why does it matter?"

"I was just wondering. You were never one to show any type of emotion other than anger," Darien said. Seth sighed and scratched the back of his head.

"Darien, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry about how I treated you. I thought I was getting better, I really did," Seth said.

"You know what?" Darien said, turning back around to face him. "You were getting better, and just when I thought things were going great, you went ahead and went back to the way you were when we met. You were never going to change."