One Kiss Was All It Took

Chapter 6

Andrew

Andrew was woken up the next morning by his fucking alarm. With a pair of eyes still jammed shut, an arm ventured out from under the covers to blindly swat at the screaming object. His hard work was rewarded when he knocked it onto the floor and it broke. At least it stopped ringing though. It was a while after that before he finally worked up the courage to leave the warm confines of his bed where he found his problems to be far worse than a battered alarm clock. He'd received another text from Gabby:

Gabbie: So, I guess it's over then.

Andrew blinked. He read it a second time. This text was accompanied by a voicemail the was received at 02:38 that morning.

"Hey Andrew, I know you read the text I sent you yesterday but you didn't reply so I guess that means it's over then. I just want you to know that I'm sorry. At one point it was really working and I had feelings for you but over these last few weeks it feels, it feels like a wedge has been driven between us. I know that you're a good person and I don't want you to think that this was your fault. It wasn't," her voice cracked. "This might come as a shock to you... hell, maybe it's what you were expecting, I don't know what to think anymore. All I want you to know is that I can't go on like this with you," her rambling speech was broken up by heavy sobbing. "Don't know what else to say now apart from goodbye and I hope you find someone to satisfy you in all the ways I never could," the call ended with a beep which left Andrew standing there in silence.

He was shocked. Well, not really. But he was shocked that she ended everything so abruptly. He looked back at their last few texts and there weren't any signs that it would all come crashing down so quickly. It just didn't make any sense. He wanted to call her back, tell her he was sorry, tell her he would be better. He texted Garrett instead.

Andrew: Hey. Gabbie just broke up with me and I don't wanna be alone rn. Can I come around to yours?

He put his phone down and made himself a warm coffee. Sitting back down on the couch, mug in hand, he read Garrett's response.

Garrett: We can watch Netflix together.

Shit. Garrett knew him so well. He felt guilty for ignoring Gabbie but decided to skip his main course and move onto the dessert that was spending time with his best friend.

When he got there, Andrew greeted his best friend with a hug.

"How are you doing?" Garrett asked as he sort of returned the physical affection.

"I'm actually doing fine considering the circumstances, what about you?" Andrew felt the warmth radiating from his body.

"I'm good. Do you wanna come in and talk about it or just keep hugging me?" Garrett chuckled.

"I'm good. Do you wanna come in or just keep hugging me?" Garrett chuckled. 

Their hug had continued for an increasingly long time - well over the acceptable period for physical contact between friends. After they withdrew, he was welcomed inside. The first thing Andrew noticed was that the TV screen had a bunch of women in Little Red Riding Hood costumes stoning a guy to death.

"A bit morbid, don't you think?" Garrett shot Andrew a questionable look.

"Well it's this show called The Handmaid's Tale and it's actually really interesting. It's set in this dystopian fantasy where women have lost all their rights and the plot is really engaging and..." Garrett was cut off by Andrew wrestling the remote from his hands.

"Sounds horrific."

"Suits me perfectly then."

"Let's watch something with a little less death in it," Andrew started flicking through the different shows before settling on one he hadn't seen before that looked cool.

"Ah, Westworld!" Garrett exclaimed while looking over his shoulder, "my friend loves that show. I watched a bit with her. Thought it looked complicated as damn!"

"Complicated as damn?" Andrew turned round to look at the taller boy with precisely one eyebrow raised.

"It's a new phrase I've thought of adopting... so I don't swear as much," Garrett shrugged.

"You do you," Andrew responded to the lovable goof and his quirks absentmindedly while pressing the play button to this mysterious new show.

"What's it even about?"

"I think it's got something to do with robots, or maybe cowboys. I can't remember the details."

The show turned out to be both! Robot cowboys in an Old Western theme park living alongside human tourists who could do whatever they liked to them without fear of consequences. It was an intriguing concept and Andrew's attention was rapt by the sweet love story of Dolores and Teddy. They seemed so happy together – when they weren't being brutally murdered. The first episode flew by and before they knew it, the credits were rolling. Andrew spoke for the first time since the show began;

"I liked that. It was super fun to watch the robots interact in Wild West speak."

Garrett looked over at his friend and sighed. "Wild West speak? What does that even mean?"

"I don't know, just like... I guess I just like the way they speak."

"You mean the script's well written?"

"That." Andrew's reply elicited some head shaking from his best friend. "What?" his reply was disgruntled, "just because I'm not good at saying stuff like you are! What did you think of the show then?"

Garrett stared at his friend and his reply was monotone, "Doesn't look like anything to me." Andrew giggled at that (it was a reference to the show.) "No, I actually liked it. It was deep." He cocked his head. "What are your core drives?"

"Huh?" Andrew glanced back at his friend quizzically.

"You know how the robots have core drives that influence their decisions? What do you think defines yours?"

"I dunno really," Andrew pondered, "I guess I just want to be surrounded by people that make me happy. Although I'm still looking for that one person to settle down with and be all domestic with."

"Why was Gabbie not that person?" Garrett asked curiously. Fucking Gabbie! Andrew had been enjoying himself so much that he'd forgotten she even existed.

"I guess we just weren't right for each other. She's nice but I'm looking for somebody who's more..." Andrew couldn't think of a word to describe what he meant, "more... someone who will love me unconditionally, even with all my flaws."

Garrett nodded and Andrew thought he saw a faint smile move across his lips.

"What about you, what do you want most of all in life?" Garrett sat there, pensive for a moment.

"I just want to be myself whenever possible. If I behave naturally then I know I can't go wrong."

Their conversation was interrupted by a phone call for Garrett who went over to the kitchen counter.

"Yeah?" Garrett asked the caller on the other end. "Ah, that's awful," Andrew tried to listen in but couldn't hear what the other person was saying. "Is there anything I can do to help?" he saw Garrett looking at the floor and shaking his head. "Ok, well thanks for letting me know, bye."

He walked back over to the couch and Andrew pretended like he hadn't just been eavesdropping. "What happened?"

Garrett turned to him, "it's my friend who's in town for the first time in like two years. I managed to book us a reservation at a really nice Chinese place a few blocks down but now she can't come because her mom died and her family are in town coffin shopping. The whole situation kinda sucks because not only do we have a dead body on our hands but I now I have no one..."

"I can come," Andrew blurted out.

"Really? Can you?" Garrett's brows furrowed slightly, "it's 7 O'clock tonight. I know that's short notice but..."

"Yeah, I can make it. I like Chinese food."

"Then it's a date."