“When are you going to stop ignoring me?” John asks, groaning from the livingroom.

“When you apologize.” I say, turning the loud coffee machine on to drown him out. 

I hear him try to say something, but I couldn’t hear exactly what he said over the coffee machine. “Hm? What was that? Couldn’t hear you, John.” 

He walks up to me and unplugs the coffee machine, holding the cord in his hand. “There, maybe now you’ll be able to hear me.”

I scoff and hold up my half empty mug. “I wasn’t done making coffee.” 

“You can continue to drown me out after we talk.” John says stubbornly. 

“Hm, that doesn’t sound like an apology.” I say, trying to grab the cord from him. He pulls it away from me and I groan. Being short was a blessing and a curse all at once. I simply walk away, sipping the coffee I did have in my cup, and he follows after me. 

“I’m not going to apologize for something when I didn’t do anything wrong.” He says and I stop in my tracks, turning towards him. 

“Are you kidding? Do you even remember playing truth or dare last night?” I ask, setting my mug down on the breakfast table. 

“Yes, of course I remember. I just don’t understand what you’re all upset about.” 

“You told Carrie about our worst fight!” I exclaim. “Not only that, you told her about our other fights!” 

“We were playing a game of truth or dare! What does it matter anyway, they’re just fights. And we’ve gotten past them.” John groans softly and rubs the bridge of his nose. 

“Maybe you have, but I haven’t.” I cross my arms. “I still am not one hundred percent sure you’re not doing other stuff with Carrie. Especially after last night!” 

“Last night? So because I told Carrie about our fights, I’m cheating on you with her?”

“No, but don’t you think it’s funny how you were so open about answering that question, but when Francis asked you when your last fling was, you took a shot? To avoid that question?” I ask. 

“I took a shot because I couldn’t remember! Honestly, I’m pretty sure it was you before we started dating, did you want me to tell Francis that you were my last fling?” He rolls his eyes. 

“No, of course I don’t. But the way you refused to answer was concerning to me. You could have simply said it was Martha or something.” I shake my head. “And then you could have taken a shot when Carrie asked you about our fights. You were already like eight shots in, it’s not like you were trying to not drink or tell the truth the whole time.” 

“You know what, I’m done with this conversation. I’m just going to get to my classes, I’ll see you later.” He grabs his stuff and starts heading towards the door. 

“Fine, but don’t bother talking to me until you apologize!” I say. He ignores me and walks out, closing the door behind him. I groan and turn around, seeing Peggy sitting on the couch. She had wide eyes and I sigh. 

“Do you guys fight like that often?” She asks quietly. 

“No, no, not often. Just.. Recently.” I frown and sit at the table. “Sorry for fighting in front of you, I forgot you were here.” 

“It’s alright.. I just didn’t realize how bad it really was getting between you two.” She says. 

“Well.. It’s just a couple fights, really. It’s not that bad.” I pause. “Is it?” 

She doesn’t answer me. Instead, she stands up and walks into the kitchen. “I’m going to make breakfast for us. Do you want pancakes?” 

I sigh softly and nod. “Yes please. I’m going to need more coffee, too.” 

"Coming right up."

Timeskip brought to you by my cousin's country music (yee-haw)

The door opens and I pretend I'm invested in the show me and Peggy are watching. I honestly hated it, but I had no intention of breaking my attention away from it. Not unless he was going to apologize. 

"Hey, what are you guys watching?"

I don't answer and lean back into the couch, staring at the TV still. John sighs and Peggy pipes up. 

"We're watching WandaVision, do you wanna watch with us?" 

There's a hesitation before I hear John say, "Actually, I'm going to have to pass. Alex, can we talk please?" 

I cross my arms and ignore him some more. I glance over at Peggy and see she's giving me a stern "you'd better do it" look. 

"Please, just in the other room for five minutes." John asks. 

I sigh and stand up, walking to the bedroom. I hear him follow me and once the door closes, I turn towards him. "So? Do you have something to say?"

"Probably not what you want to hear, but yes, I do have something to say." I raise an eyebrow but continue listening. I figured I'd give him the benefit of the doubt. 

"Listen, I'm sorry you got so offended about the game last night. But I did not mean to hurt you." John starts. "Carrie and I are just open books to each other, so I wasn't going to keep secrets with her."

I frown. Nevermind, he doesn't get any benefits. 

"You don't want to keep secrets with her, but you're fine keeping secrets with me?" I ask. 

"What, no, I didn't say that-"

"No, you didn't have to. I figured it out on my own. Whenever Francis or I asked questions, you chickened out. You didn't want to answer. But Carrie has a question and you suddenly can't lie?"

"Can we please just leave Carrie out of this? For one conversation, just forget Carrie exists." John asks, sounding tired. 

"No, I kind of can't, John. Because I have a feeling that something's going on between you two, and you haven't done much to show me there's not." I argue. 

"Why are you still stuck on this? I don't like women, you know this." He rolls his eyes. 

"Maybe you don't like dating women." I shrug. "But you sure do like sleeping with them. You did throughout high school."

"We're not in high school anymore!"

"Yeah, I'm fully aware of that." 

He states at me a moment before shaking his head. "Look, I don't want to fight-"

"It sounds like you do." I interrupt. "You know, maybe I should have taken Carrie's warning."

As soon as I say it, I instantly regret saying it. I just don't know how to shut up. 

"What was Carrie's warning?" John asks cautiously. 

I hesitate to answer, staring at the floor. If I told him, then he would take it the wrong way. I didn't really mean to say that. 

"Alex, what did Carrie tell you?" He asks once again. 

"Nothing, nevermind." I say, turning away from him. 

He gently grabs my arm and turns me to face him, and then lifts my chin to look at him. None of it was done with force, so it was very slow. I bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from saying stupid. 

"God damnit, Alex, just tell me." He says, giving me a sincere look. 

I sigh and close my eyes. "Carrie told me that it wouldn't last between us. She said she had done this kind of thing before, and it just wouldn't work out." 

I slowly open my eyes to see John frowning at me. He seemed hurt by what I said. 

"You don't think we're going to last?" He asks quietly. 

"No, John, that's not what I meant-"

"It's fine, just leave it." He lets go of me and takes a step back. "I'll sleep on the couch with Peggy tonight, and see you in the morning."

He starts walking out and I sigh, sitting on the bed. I hold my head in my hands. Of course I had to go and say something stupid like that. It was the only thing I was good at it seemed.

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