It was moments like these—Ash fast asleep with his head in Casey’s lap, Casey carefully running his hand through Ash’s bright purple hair, a cheesy rom-com playing to which Casey had barely been paying attention—that made Casey really appreciate being in a relationship. It was moments like these when the world shrunk down to just the two of them, and for once, Casey wasn’t thinking about much of anything at all, just what made the female lead wear that dress. <\/em>He wasn’t panicking about what Ash really thought of him, or why he hadn’t responded to a text; they were just here<\/em>, in the moment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ash’s phone lit up with a notification. It was a text from an Alex: “I’m sorry.” Casey ignored it, though Ash hadn’t mentioned that he was upset with anyone. The screen went dark again, then lit up once more: “I love you, I messed up.” An ex, maybe?<\/em> Though, again, Ash hadn’t mentioned anyone recently. “Makeup sex when you get home?” <\/p>\n\n\n\n Maybe it was just an ex, a delusional one.<\/em> At least, that’s what Casey told himself as he reached for the phone, typing in the passcode that Ash had told him months ago when Ash was driving and needed Casey to respond to a text for him. Checking his phone was just to confirm that it was just an ex. It didn’t really even count as snooping, just blocking an ex so Ash didn’t have to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Casey froze, scrolling back through the messages. “I love you”s from both sides from the day prior, messages going back months. A text from Ash to this Alex from a week prior that unlocked a level of cold fury in Casey that he never Casey didn’t even think about what to do. He just found his own messages, took screenshots of the particularly romantic messages, and sent those to Alex. He did a cursory scroll through Ash’s messages and managed to find a third person. Peter, whose messages only went back a couple of weeks. He took screenshots of those to send to Alex and sent the screenshots of his own conversations with Ash to Peter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He carefully lifted Ash’s head off his lap so he could get up, silently thanking the years of training he had with getting cats off him without upsetting them too much. He walked to his bedroom, ignoring Ash’s phone as it started ringing, making sure he had his own phone with him. He closed and locked his bedroom door behind him, then went through his closet, dresser drawers, and bathroom cabinet to collect all of Ash’s things. The toothbrush Casey had bought him, the jacket Casey had stolen from him, the clothes he left for when he spent the night. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He kept the things that Ash had given him, since his sister, Grace, had always told him to keep the jewelry after a breakup, and the stuffed cat that never made him think of Ash when they were dating. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When they were dating.<\/em> He shook his head, dispelling the thought before it fully formed. He took the pile of Ash’s things, then unlocked and opened the door to see Ash frantically pacing in front of the couch and telling someone on the phone to calm down. Casey dropped everything in front of his bedroom door. He made eye contact with Ash for a second before closing and locking his door again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He sat on the floor in front of his bed, absentmindedly petting his cat, Fibonacci, as she came up to him seeking attention. He tried thinking about the homework he still had to do that night, trying desperately to not think about the situation until Ash was gone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Knock, knock. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n He tried to project his thoughts to Ash so he would just leave. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “Can we talk about this?” <\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, clearly that didn’t work.<\/em> Casey ignored Ash, hoping that would make him understand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “I think you’re overreacting.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n He went back to trying to project his thoughts. That’s just ridiculous.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n “Just unlock the door, Casey. Please?” He knocked again. After a long pause, Casey heard the door to his apartment slam shut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fibonacci’s purring was deafening in the silence that followed. Casey’s sobs were quiet in comparison, as he finally let himself think about the fact that his relationship was over. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The apartment is too quiet. <\/em>Casey didn’t remember going to Chloe’s apartment. He could barely remember making the choice to go there. Grace’s boyfriends are too protective. My friend Jules will just offer advice. <\/em> What he did remember, after getting to Chloe’s apartment building, was that Chloe was at work. She would be for at least the next half hour. He was willing to wait, so he sat down with his back against the building entrance and hugged his knees to his chest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He stared at the cracks in the sidewalk, arguing with himself. Grace could also provide a shoulder to cry on; yes, but Jase is just going to be pissed at Ash. So? Do I really want to have to talk him out of going after Ash right now? <\/em>Suddenly he felt something soft and fuzzy against the back of his hand. He looked over, into the bright green eyes of a kitten, old enough to be away from his mother, but far too young to be on his own. It was pure white with black fur around its front paws. The kitten rubbed against Casey’s hand rather insistently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Hey, man, are you alright?” a man asked from in front of him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Casey was startled, but he was too focused on the kitten to jump. “This poor guy.” It wasn’t what he wanted to say, but it came out anyway. “I can’t take him home. My sister keeps telling me I need to stop bringing strays home.” He also didn’t really want to say that, but he was tired and upset. Words were just coming out of his mouth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “I could take him,” the man offered. “I mean, my girlfriend also keeps telling me to stop bringing home strays, but…” Casey looked up in time to watch him shrug, make eye contact, and panic. “She’s not really my girlfriend. We just live together and tell her parents that we’re dating so they don’t realize she’s a lesbian.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n They stared at each other for a few seconds as Casey thought about how to respond. He took in the man’s deep blue button-up, dark slacks, veined hand holding a grocery bag. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “Anyways, would you like to come up? That way, she hopefully won’t get too upset with me. One look at that face, and I’d forgive me.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Are you hitting on me? Because I have a— “ Casey paused as the realization hit. “No, I don’t. I do not have a boyfriend.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Okay, you’re coming up,” the man said, bringing Casey’s attention back to those dark curls and bright blue eyes. “My roommate Luna made cheesecake last night. She just sent me out to get sugar so she could make whipped cream. You clearly just went through a breakup. You’re getting cheesecake.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The man was silent as they went inside and took the elevator to the fourth floor, seemingly determined to get Casey cheesecake. As he opened the door to his apartment, they heard a voice from inside say, “You better be back with sugar and not another cat.” The man glanced from Casey’s eyes to the kitten in his arms and back again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “I brought sugar,” the man said, closing the door behind them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A woman came out of the kitchen, hands on her hips and streaks of pink in her long, dark hair. Casey recognized her as one of Chloe’s friends. “That’s a human person, Theo.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Oh! I have a name!” He turned to Casey. “Hi, I’m Theo.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Casey,” he responded, trying to hold back a laugh. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “And a cat!” Luna said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “And sugar,” Theo said, holding up the grocery bag. “And sure, I brought home a kitten and a cute guy, who, by the way, is going through a breakup, so I brought him up for cheesecake, but I remembered the sugar.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Luna sighed, putting her head in her hands for a moment. Then, she looked up at Casey. “You’re one of Chloe’s friends, right? Does she know you’re here?” “I’ll text her. You can let the cat down, I guess. He can go find Lulu, the stray that Theo brought home last week. Would you like some cheesecake?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chloe knocked on the door a few minutes later. She opened it to find Casey on the floor with a plate of cheesecake and a large, fluffy, black cat in his lap. She looked at him, face full of sympathy, and said, “Don’t pick up strays.”<\/p>\n\n\n\nt<\/s>hought he was capable of: “You know I only love you.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Oh, right. Um, no,” he replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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