Chatting About A Relationship

"Heheh, sure just change the topic just like that huh, what do you want to know?"

"How did you two start dating?"

"We actually only started talking to each other when the professor had randomly assigned all of us partners for a project when we were in Freshman Seminar. She also happened to be a girl who didn't talk much with others, but we managed to hit it off somehow during our project work days and from there we decided to hang out more until we got together."

"Hey that's a little vague isn't it?"

"Well I'm sure you wouldn't want to actually hear every single little detail about it now would you?"

"..."

"..W-would you?"

"...N-no o-of course not! Uh, do you have a picture of her?"

"Yeah, let me pull it up real quick."

I pulled out my phone to search for a picture of Diana, but noticed that Racheal was staring intently at my phone.

"Uh, what's the matter Racheal?"

"Oh, it's nothing."

"Are you still jealous that mine's a newer model than yours?"

"Pfshhh, no. "Do you still have that old phone of yours?"

"Yeah I still keep it in my apartment, but it's in a drawer somewhere. I haven't touched it in a while- oh I found a picture of us together!"

I turned my phone toward her so she could get a better view and she leaned in to see. It was only then did I realize the blouse she was wearing had the top couple buttons undone which exposed a sizable portion of her cleavage. They were emphasized even further from the fact she leaned her whole torso over to see.

"Oh so this is the woman who ended up taking Ethan from me? I think you could've done better to be honest."

"What? Hey come on now! You never even met her and you're already being so rude?"

"Yeah, you're right, I'm sorry. So do you think I could meet her sometime?"

From that question I felt my lips moving into a sad smile and I could already feel the slight melancholic expression I was making.

"Oh, uh about that. She's actually… dead. She was murdered around half a year ago in some kind of robbery gone wrong…"

"Ah! I'm so sorry I brought that up!"

Hearing my sad tone she quickly sat closer to me and started soothing me. She wrapped an arm around my shoulders to pull me closer into a hug which soon slid down onto my waist. She had pushed my head past her own forcing me to rest on her shoulder a little while her other hand held the back of my head there.

"Hey, Racheal let go of me. It's fine really, it's been a while already after all."

I pulled away from her shoulder, but her hands stopped me from escaping entirely.

"No it's not! You're just saying that so I won't be as worried aren't you? You know, normally it takes a year or even longer to get over someone's death!"

"Hey I'm a changed man from how I was before alright? Don't you think so?"

She answered almost instantly.

"Yes."

"See, of course I have it even if you agree with me. So what do you think changed?"

"6 Years is plenty of time for someone to change and one of the ways you did was knocking on a neighbor's door with a hangover. The Ethan I knew barely even drank back then, but you're probably drinking as a coping method aren't you? I think I have a better way for you to get over her death a little easier. One that's not as self harming"

Near the end of her words her lips curved up into a smile.

'Well I guess that's the main reason why I started drinking. Now a part of me wants to keep doing it since I could spend a bit of time with my boss and humanize her. It's one of the only ways I interact with her as a friend instead of just another higher up.'

"Oh yeah? What might that be?"

I asked with some genuine curiosity, but seeing that smile of hers didn't bode well for me.

"How about this? I'll become your girlfriend! Not bad right?"

"What!! Isn't that moving too fast?! It's been six years since I've seen you!"

"Hehe, look at you being flustered about a simple proposal. That's the Ethan I know! Six years is nothing, didn't we immediately become how we used to be after that kiss?"

"Now you're the one bringing it up! I thought you refused to talk about it."

"About what?"

"Don't you "About what?" me! Man you really haven't changed at all in these 6 years personality wise, have you?!"

"Why did you want me to? We probably wouldn't be able to talk like this then would we?"

"Yeah, I guess it's for the best that you didn't."

"So I still haven't heard an answer to my confession yet? Just remember this when you think about an answer, a girl personally confessed to you. Just how many women are even doing that, huh?"

"Hey you trying to put some psychological pressure on me to accept it?"

"Maybe…"

"Are you for real?"

"A little, if you accept I won't say no!"

A little relief came over my face as I realized she said it as a joke even though it still had some literal connotations to it. Perhaps what she said about that year thing was right, maybe I wasn't over it quite yet.

"Hey didn't you just say it'll take a year or so to get over a death? Aren't you worried I won't be thinking about you then? That is if you really did become my girlfriend."

"Well then it seems like I'd just have to try harder to override those memories of hers then. Maybe you'll only think about me then."

"That's a little fucked up isn't it? It almost sounds like you're trying to NTR her from the grave or something."

"What?? No! I wouldn't do that! Say how far did you two really go in that relationship?"

"Isn't that awkward or uncomfortable for you to hear? You really want to know what I did with her?"

"Hey I'm asking aren't I? Don't make me ask again!"

I was a little surprised, but not shocked when I heard how unreserved she was when trying to ask me about my experiences.

I gave her a shit-eating grin while dramatically puffing my chest up before saying a few simple words.

"All the way."

She looked at me in shock at my words.

"W-what?! No, you didn't, did you? You lost your V-card? That's, that's…"

"Hey! You don't have to look so shocked about it, okay!? Come on, I got a girlfriend, you think we wouldn't try it at least once during the time we were together?"

"Hey didn't you come in here looking for hangover medicine? Did that hangover just magically disappear?"

"Don't you- ah! What the hell, do your words have some magic property or some shit?! I basically forgot I even had one until you talked about it again!"

Halfway through my sentence a headache assaulted me almost as if Racheal had the ability to control my hangover.

"So, do you need "Mr. Watson" to make something for you to drink? How about I just get you a glass of water first to hydrate yourself."

"Yeah, that would be great, thanks Racheal!"

"No problem, I'll be right back!"

As she left I propped myself up against a wall and rested my head on it with my eyes closed. The room wasn't lit up which helped with the photosensitivity I currently had, but I felt a little dizzy looking around so I just shut my eyes and waited for a cup of water to arrive.

Knowing her I felt like I knew how she would wake me up. She would bring iced water up to me and hold it against my cheek. At least that's how I remembered her acting in the past, but even if I knew I was unable to stop her. I would just have to accept it since I was still feeling sore. A little shut eye would help me, even if I would have to be rudely woken up.

***

(Racheal Taylor POV)

After stepping away from him I felt a huge sigh of relief as I felt I could have exposed how I really felt numerous times. Good thing that we used to take little shots at each other like this all the time, else he may have thought I was serious. Though I was, it just had a little more flair to it which happened to convince him into thinking that I was teasing him..

That hug that I initiated was to get him close so that I could have some physical contact and a little smell of him. Luckily in the past we had already been quite physical so he doesn't even react much to it. But not only that as I also had to hide the face of relief and especially the smile that came out on its own accord.

He might have seen me as some psychopath if he saw me smiling at the fact that she had already died. I felt like if he saw that, his thoughts about me may change quite drastically and very clearly not in a good way.

I made my way to the kitchen while thinking about his answer for my proposal. I may have said it in a joking manner, but I was serious. His answer was to retaliate with another question.

'Heh, well he didn't explicitly say no, so I'll take it as a yes! I'll just have to support him all along the way and I'm sure we could take it even further than the simple kiss we had all those years ago.

That girlfriend of his could've been a really big obstacle for me, now it seems like it'll be smooth sailing from this point onward! I can already see it, our future together will be bright! We should be going to the same college too so I could probably get him to show me around the place which will of course lead to even more intimate sessions!.'

When I got out of my thoughts I could feel that I had a hand on either cheek of my face. I could already tell the minor insane look I had on at the moment so I quickly shaped up to grab a cup of water.

As I was doing so a little prank idea popped up in my head and I quickly added some ice cubes to cool down the drink.

I also pulled out a small clear packet with no indication of what the substance was whatsoever.

'It seems I won't even have to use this either! There's no need at the moment, but I'll make sure to keep it just in case.'

I could already see how chilled the water got from the condensation of the outer glass and it was ready. With the glass in hand I went back, but along the way another thought came up in my mind, one which was irritating me.

'He said he lost his virginity to that woman who died, right? Tsk! I was supposed to be his first goddamn it! Well it doesn't matter anymore, she's dead and can't do it with him anymore. I'll do better than her!

Her looks weren't even comparable to mine! I'm better in all ways! I'm sure he won't even remember her name in half a year when I'm done! Hehe, Ethan, you're all mine now!'

When I came out into the living room I saw him leaning against the wall lightly breathing. My eyes softened when I saw him sleep so vulnerably in my place.

"Fufu~ Cute."

After basking in his sight I walked over and pressed the cold glass against his cheek, which he slightly jumped at, before handing him the glass.

"Ah! Damn it, I knew you'd do that to me! Thanks."

"No problem, so what're you planning to do now?"