Evan looked down. He was almost surprised to see Dana there, leaning into his chest. She was a waifish little thing, hardly there. He could barely feel her, but he could feel her. The surprising thing wasn't that she was there; it was that she was around at all.
When was the last time that he'd dated someone? Evan wasn't sure. He wasn't sure what this was supposed to be. A second date? A third, if you counted the cup of coffee they'd gotten together? Did that mean they were dating?
More than that, he wasn't sure what she was doing there. Why was she sticking around? Why was he? He pressed his lips together and looked back up at the screen, and told himself to stop second guessing everything. It wasn't going to happen, of course; he was good at second-guessing, when it came to serious relationships.
He was better at getting into girls' pants. Better at picking movies. Better at cooking. Better at politics. Still, he'd need to get married eventually. Some part of him was aware of it. Eventually, it would be convenient, but if he didn't…well, he wasn't interested in trying to answer the questions that would raise. And by the time he got out of school, he had to have gotten past the 'oats sowing' part of his youth.
Still, it felt strange, almost restricting, to think of Dana as anything other than a convenient person to have around. He clicked his teeth together and tried to stop thinking about it. Squeezed her in tight.
Dana made an appreciative noise. By now, he thought, most girls would have their phones out. Few people had the patience for foreign films, even when they were pretty good. And on a random evening? It was just inevitable that people lost interest.
Something in his gut had told him that Dana had a big part of her that enjoyed putting her mind to things. So he was more than willing to believe she could sit through it. It just surprised him that she actually did it.
"I'm gonna grab something to drink," she said. "You want anything?"
"No," he said. She left the room and he changed his mind. "Actually, could you grab me a bottle of water?"
"Sure," she called back. She came back into the room with a long-neck bottle and a plastic water bottle. Part of him was almost surprised that she was drinking beer. But then again, she'd already proven that she liked her alcohol, at least in some circumstances. Maybe this was one of them.
They settled back in. His eyes settled back onto the screen as the hero continued to take a beating that seemed to have been going on for the past two weeks. The trajectory his life was on put him for a death at the end of the movie. It would be better than living through the whole thing, at this point.
Dana's head settled back into the crook of Evan's shoulder. She took a drink. They watched in relative silence. They were comfortable together, and that gave Evan an itch in his spine that he couldn't explain. The only thing he knew for sure was that he wasn't comfortable being so damned comfortable. And it was starting to bother him.
He closed his eyes and sucked in a breath. Opened them again. The villain sneered, said something in Korean. The subtitles below regurgitated it in English. There was a sound outside the room. A knock was the only thing that precipitated the door opening, and only by a moment.
Jesse looked like hell. Evan's eyes got wide. Dana moved to the other side of the couch, trying to look nonchalant about it. The way that Jesse licked his lips, it was hard to blame her for being nervous.
"Jesse," Evan said. "This is Dana. Dana, Jesse. Is something wrong?"
"Yeah," Jesse answered. "Nice to meet you" was an afterthought. Then he nodded his head out the door in as-significant a way as possible.
Dana tried her best not to look like she was pressing herself into the arm of the couch to make distance from the new guy. Jesse. Evan knew him, and he seemed to have a key, so Dana figured that he was welcome.
She'd only been in the apartment twice now; for all she knew, she was the one who was unwelcome, really.
"Are you Evan's roommate?"
Jesse flashed a smile that contained no trace of being happy to see her, or happy to answer the question. "No, just a friend. Colin's…well, I'm sure you'll meet him."
"I'll just be a second," Evan told her. Dana nodded and tried not to feel too nervous about it. She'd need to get a ride home, but that…probably wasn't a big deal. It wasn't like she didn't know how to get an Uber.
"Take your time."
Evan left. Dana watched him go. Only after a moment did it occur to her to pause the movie. She did. A flashing pistol took up only a small part of the screen, but in another way it felt like it took up the whole shot. She almost enjoyed it, just as a single still frame.
They talked outside. Dana made an effort not to listen. She pulled her phone out and scrolled through Pinterest. It had nothing interesting, just like it always had. They stopped talking. Evan came back through the door. Jesse, the newcomer, stood by the door. Leaning against the door-frame, like he was waiting for something.
"I've got to go."
"Okay," Dana said. "Everything okay?"
"Jesse's got some trouble and he needs a hand."
"What kind of trouble? Anything I can help with?"
"Not the kind of trouble that you want to get involved in," Evan said. He gave her a significant look. Like it was supposed to mean something. Dana wasn't sure what it was, but she knew how to take a hint.
"Alright," she said. "But you owe me dessert."
Evan smiled a desperate smile. "I'll get you a dozen desserts when I get back, okay? Just stay out of trouble."
"Should I be worried?"
"No," Evan said, turning to grab his coat from by the door. But it was a lie, and they both knew it.
The only thing they didn't both know was what she should have really been worried about.