12 Like Sugar | Chapter Twelve

Darnell hadn't called or messaged Jared yet. The incident that had happened at the bar had been on Saturday, and now it was Wednesday. Something had happened, and all Darnell knew was that Nyx had something to do with it because he was dead set on touching Darnell and making rude comments about Jared when the older man left in a hurry.

"Fuck," Darnell cursed, throwing his phone aside. The thing tumbled, somehow managing not to fly off the couch as Darnell hugged his knees and made himself into a curled ball. Nathalie was walking around in the background with a night robe and a face mask on. She was munching on popcorn as she watched the mess of a shell Darnell had become. It was around eight at night, and Darnell had been at the couch since he got back from lectures by five, unlocking his phone every five or so minutes to see if Jared called, or maybe answered any of the texts he had sent him on Saturday night.

"He still hasn't replied to you?" Nathalie asked, taking a sit on the sofa next to the couch Darnell was curled up in. Darnell shook his head at Nathalie's question, checking his phone once again before sighing and confirming that Jared has still not replied.

"Okay, so maybe call him first. I don't know," Nathalie said, eating from the bowl of popcorn she had on her lap. "Maybe he's trying not to look needy. Nyx said something to him, right?" Nathalie muttered between crunches as she looked at Darnell. He looked horrible. His lips were quivering, and his eyes were red. She was starting to feel how Darnell felt about Jared was beyond a simple man crush.

"Uh-uh." Nathalie frowned at Darnell's rejection of her advice.

"What do you mean uh-uh? If you want him to call you, you might as well call him. If you both wait this out like idiots, a month will pass by and you won't talk to each other," Nathalie said as Darnell started to sob again. Usually, she didn't yell at him, but the boy could be dense and a bit of an airhead.

Maybe that was what made the situation a little sad. Nathalie saw how Jared looked at Darnell that night, but she guessed the man was too afraid of rejection to say anything. Darnell would make the first move if he knew, but Nathalie had a feeling he was clueless at the moment.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," she groaned, rolling her eye before getting off her sit. She placed the bowl of popcorn that she was carrying around on the center table before walking over to Darnell and taking a seat beside him on the couch. "Give me your phone," she said, putting her hand in front of Darnell's face. "Come one."

"If he picks the call up, I'll tell him I was the one that called because I was getting worried and wanted to know if he didn't want the contract anymore," Nathalie said and Darnell broke down into sobs again at the mere mention of the contract being annulled. Nathalie sighed, reaching out before grabbing Darnell's phone. He let her have hit, not even looking up as he continued to sob.

Nathalie scrolled through Darnell's contacts, not finding one named Jared, but guessing the number that just had a bunch of hearts as its contact name belonged to him. She dialed the number, putting it on speaker as she waited for Jared to pick up. It rang a few times, then the phone beeped, showing that Jared had not picked up. While Nathalie had dialed Jared Darnell had gone quiet on his end of the couch, and now that he didn't pick the nineteen-year-old was sniffling again.

"Shush. I just called him once, calm down," Nathalie said, making Darnell nod into his folded hands.

Message to: ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

Do you still want us to be meeting up? If you want to end the arrangement, sure. I'll look for someone else. Just be mature about it and at least pick up my calls.

WED, 8:33 PM.

If Darnell knew Nathalie had typed and pressed send on that message, he would have gone quiet in disbelief before muttering about how Nathalie was ruining everything, but Darnell didn't need to find out, because his phone rang seconds later startling by him and Nathalie. Nathalie blinked, answering the call before putting it on the speaker again. She had expected him to react to that, but not so quickly.

"Darnell?" the man's voice was muffled from the other end, but it was his voice, and that was enough to make Darnell start blinking back tears again. This whole situation had made him a mess. He sniffled, wiping at his eyes as he tried to make a sound without crying.

"J-Jared?"

"Are you crying?" the voice at the other end aid in alarm as Darnell continued to wipe at his eyes and heave. Nathalie got up, walking closer to Darnell before handing him the phone and gesturing to the small hallway that led to his room. Darnell nodded, thanking her for her help under his voice before turning the speaker on the call of and getting up from the couch. He left the small living room, leaving Nathalie by herself.

"Yes," Darnell answered honesty. "You just left, and you didn't reply to my texts. I—" He didn't finish what he was saying because his words got drowned out by the croak that left his throat. He kept crying, clinging to the phone as he tried to stop. He wasn't even sure if his tears were tears of relief or not.

"I'm so sorry..." Jared trailed through the other end as Darnell sat down on his bed and tried to stop his sobbing. "I didn't mean to make you cry, God," the man said from the other end as Darnell's sobbing turned into sniffles.

"I thought you wanted time alone with Nyx, he said it was supposed to be a date," Jared explained in a small voice as Darnell rubbed his nose.

"What? It wasn't a date. Why would I invite you over to a date?" Darnell asked, making Jared go quiet on the other end. "Plus, that doesn't explain why you haven't called me. Are you mad at me? Are you angry because you thought it was a date?" Darnell asked, ignoring the fact that Jared hadn't answered the first question. The older man seemed flustered since he wasn't saying anything and kept his mouth shut.

"If you don't want me to go on dates, I won't go on dates," Darnell said, trying to put two and two together. Nathalie had explained to him that some people that looked for contracted relationships didn't like the people they were seeing going out with other people on the side. He didn't mind at all. It wasn't like he was looking to go on dates, and if the idea of going on one made Jared upset, he would rather make it clear that he wasn't going on any.

"You can do what you want—"

"I won't go on a date if it makes you upset," Darnell insisted, sitting up on his bed. His voice was a lot firmer, and he had stopped crying. Jared went quiet on the other end, probably thinking of what to say.

"I don't want to dictate what you do." Jared's voice was cracked like he didn't know what to make of the conversation they were having. Darnell sniffed, not knowing what to say either. They both stayed quiet, the sound of their breathing serving as a sign that they were both still on the line. After a while, Darnell found the will to talk.

"So, when are we meeting," he said, stirring the conversation to a different path. They were past what happened. He hoped, at least.

"Friday if you're free," Jared muttered, and Darnell sniffed, pulling his blanket over his feet and he sat down yoga style on his twin bed. His room was small, but he didn't mind. He didn't spend much time in it anyway.

"Yeah, I'm free," Darnell answered, biting the nail of his thumb as he stared down at the cheap carpet. His eyes moved to the tiny study table he had squeezed beside his cupboards. Looking at his laptop he bit inside his cheek, thinking of something.

"Jared?" he called, hoping the older man was still on the other end.

"Hmm?" Jared hummed from the other end as Darnell heard some movement in the background.

"Do you want to have a video call?" Darnell asked, his face getting warm with his suggestion. It was odd. Darnell was the one who was supposed to be providing a service, but lately, he's been the one asking Jared for affection. Like asking Jared to go to karaoke with him and use pet names. It was strange indeed, and to a degree, he hoped Jared would pick up on that fact and realize there were more to Darnell's questions and suggestions.

Jared's lack of response made Darnell start to worry. "It's completely fine if you don't want to—"

"I'm getting my laptop. Sorry, I should have said that when I went quiet," Jared said, cutting Darnell off.

"Okay." Darnell smiled as butterflies bounced around in his stomach. Maybe this wasn't just a crush. There was something about speaking, seeing, and talking to Jared that just did something to him. He got up, almost skipping to his study desk to pick up his laptop before returning to his bed and turning it on. The call they had on their phone was still ongoing. They had to exchange emails to set up a google hangouts call, and they dropped the call when they were finally seeing each other face to face on their computer screen.

Darnell blinked, his expression going sour when he noticed how bad Jared looked. It seemed like he hadn't been getting enough sleep.

"I've been working overnight in the study," Jared said, explaining his appearance even though Darnell never asked. In honesty, he was only working overtime in his home's study because he couldn't sleep without thinking of Darnell, and hence his creeping insecurity took over his mind anytime he put his head on a pillow.

"Oh," Darnell said, looking down at his laptop's keyboard. "How have you been?"

"Not the best really," Jared said, and Darnell chuckled a bit, realizing Jared was talking about the misunderstanding from before.

"I don't like Nyx," Darnell said all of a sudden. He just had an urge to clarify things to Jared. We're not dating. We're friends — well, I'm not sure we're friends anymore." Because he hurt you. Darnell added the last part in his head, not wanting to complicate the discussion.

"You don't have to explain yourself. It shouldn't bother me. I'm sorry you feel like you have to clarify things," Jared muttered under his breath, twirling the pen between his fingers. Darnell wanted to scream internally. Jared still wasn't getting it. He opened his mouth to say something, but he closed it, deciding against what he wanted to say.

Their conversation moved to other things. Like Darnell's test grades, Jared's work and gossip from the drag bar. They talked until Jared looked up from his notes to find that Darnell was asleep. He smiled, remembering the younger man insisting that lying down wouldn't make him sleepy. He didn't try waking him up, deciding it was best that Darnell had some sleep before the classes he had tomorrow.

Jared's eyes kept flickering to his computer screen, watching Darnell sleep. He was starting to feel like a creep just watching, but on another and he didn't know if Darnell would freak out the next morning if he ended the call and woke up to a blank screen.

Jared didn't have to think about it too long because there was some noise in the background before Darnell's roommate walked in, strolling over to the computer. She ran her fingers through Darnell's hair before looking straight at Jared. "Oh, I'll tell him that he slept off and you had to end the call," Nathalie said, smiling a bit at Jared before making to cover Darnell's body with his blanket. She took the laptop off the bed next, staring at Jared as she walked over to Darnell's desk.

"I was the one that sent that text," she explained, making Jared's eyes go wide. The text he had gotten from Darnell that pushed him to call had scared him. Sure, he wanted to give Darnell some space, and learn to stop getting jealous, but the proposition that he might dunk out of the contract scared him.

"Darnell would never say something like that to you," Nathalie said, taking a seat on the chair by the desk. "He likes you too much," Nathalie explained, making Jared turn his eyes away from her as his face warmed up. He wasn't sure why his heart rate had quickened. There was no way she meant it the way he wished she meant it, but he couldn't stop getting giddy over the chance. He shut his eyes close, trying to get the thought out of his mind. Wishes were the recipe for heartbreak.

"It looks you're tired too, I'll end the call," Jared heard Nathalie said, and he opened his eyes to find a blank screen. He leaned back on his chair, staring at his computer. Well, there goes keeping my distance. Jared thought, running a hand through his hair. After listening to Darnell cry over the phone he couldn't imagine attempting to do that again.

He leaned forward, picking up a stray pen as he nibbled on his bottom lips. There really wasn't any case where he wouldn't get out of this without getting heartbreak, was there? He couldn't keep his distance, there was no reason to dislike Darnell — there were just more reasons to like him, and he couldn't keep himself from wishful thinking. He chuckled to himself, not knowing how else to express frustration over his situation.

Things were only going to get worse.