Falling for my Best Friend

Creepy Robert

Wren

It's that I'm not curious what Gael has to say to Kilian, I am but I have enough going on in my life already. I don't need to take anything else on so I'm choosing to put it out of my mind for now. If it comes up again later, I'll deal with it then.

Declan and I spend the ride home quizzing each other to prepare for our upcoming Economics test. Dec is the only one of my friends who is as serious about school as I am but whenever it's just the two of us our activities are usually scholastic in nature.

By the time we get to my house, I'm ready for the snacks I teased Declan about. When we step inside however my plans are disrupted because there is a strange man in my living room, alone. I've never seen him before, but when we walk in, he smiles warmly as if he knows me. I pull a questioning face toward Declan then try my best to smile back at the man sitting on my sofa. My mom saunters into the living room with a tray of snacks like Susie homemaker, she's even wearing my apron.

"Hi baby, this is Robert from work, he just came over to have a few drinks with your dad and me," Mom says with a huge smile on her face.

I muster a smile and say, "I'm Wren," while I extend my hand to Robert. "This is Declan," I gesture toward my friend.

"Makes sense that such a pretty little thing would have a boyfriend," Robert says, smiling almost like he's flirting with me and it creeps me out.

It scares me so much that I remove my hand from his grasp. Declan puts his arm around me possessively, almost like he can sense my fear.

He clears his throat and looks at me awkwardly before he says, "Yes, the little lady and I were just going to get some snacks, nice to meet you," he says as he pulls me towards the kitchen.

Once the kitchen door swings shut, we both stare at each other and then start bursting into laughter, "What was with that guy? He reminds me of the old man on Scooby-Doo," Declan chuckles.

"Did we just enter the twilight zone?" I exclaim.

"Something like that, what the hell? The guy was practically a walking stereotype of creepy," There is sarcasm in Declan's tone, and I double over because I'm laughing so hard; I finally slide down the wall and sit on the ground.

"That was the weirdest thing, I've never even heard of 'Robert' before and if he's having drinks with my dad well, my dad's not here," I say a little nervously.

"Don't worry Wren, he's just a creepy old man, your mom is probably enjoying the attention. Now what can we eat?" he asks as he opens the pantry and walks in like he lives here.

"Just not anything on the third shelf, everything else is fair game..." I chime in just as the doorbell rings.

I leave Declan to procure the snacks and rush to the door to let Kilian and Gael in. I'm hoping that they can avoid creepy Robert all together. When I open the door they both smile, I'm not sure what to say so I pull a weird face, gesturing with my eyes towards Robert, who is sitting on the couch opposite my mother.

"Hi boys! Make yourselves at home," my mother calls out.

There went my plan for avoidance.

"Three boyfriends!" Robert exclaims almost accusingly.

I mean a girl can be friends with boys right? What in the actual fuck is this guy's problem? I square my shoulders as the hair on my arms bristles a little. Kilian turns red and stands up straighter, then he looks to me almost like he's asking for permission to talk. I nod subtly.

"Wrenny is our friend, it would do you well to respect her in her own home," Kilian says in a very authoritative tone that I didn't even know he possessed.

He puts his arm around me and nods Gael toward the kitchen.

"Don't get your knickers in a twist son, I'm just making friendly conversation, I do apologize," Robert says, but the word apologize drips with a venomous tone.

The three of us leave without saying a word. When we get into the kitchen, the tension is quickly broken because Declan has built a small house out of snack cakes and he's just smiling down at it with pride. He is so cute that I can't help laughing, then Kilian and Gael join in too.

"Well hanging out here just got a lot more awkward, I don't know what's going on with that guy but I don't like him," I say.

"Declan, you should have heard that fucker talking down to Wren, acting like she's some slut because we're all here, I almost lost it," Kilian chimes in.

"I did see Old Man Withers, he did the same thing to us when we walked in, called her a pretty little thing," Declan replies.

Gael shoves a snack cake in his mouth and nods in agreement. "He's a slime ball," he says with his mouth full.

"Charming," I say with a smirk in his direction.

Everyone laughs until the front door opens again. Shit, it's Quin!

"I have to go save Quin, like right now," I leave and they all follow behind me.

Kilian quickly takes the lead and says, "Quinny! Want to come to the football game with us?"

Kilian's tone is enthusiastic and upbeat, so Quin gets so excited that she nearly leaps on him. After she gives him a hug she follows him into the kitchen. Crisis averted.

I love Kilian's idea of bringing Quin to the game, "You can come with us, we're going to the game and then to Boomers, it will be like your first high school hangout," I say in a tone that will hopefully help to convince her.

"Who is the guy with momma?" she asks.

"Don't worry, he works with her, Dad will be home soon, they're going to have drinks so you don't want to be here," I assure her.

I don't think that Quin knows the extent of my parent's drinking woes but she definitely knows that she doesn't like to be around a drunk version of Mom.

My mom comes into the kitchen and sees the snack cake house with all of us gathered around the table. My gut pinches a bit because I never know what I'm going to get with her but she likes to put on a show for the guys so it shouldn't be a problem.

Eventually, she smiles and says, "Full table, full heart."

All I can think is what a load of bull but at least she isn't yelling.

"We're going to go to the football game and then to Boomers, I will take Quin and feed her dinner, okay Mom?" I ask.

She digs in her purse and hands me a handful of bills, "Fine dear, just don't keep Quin out too late," she says.

With that, we all leave without paying Robert a second look. I almost feel guilty leaving my mom with him but she brought him here, she must know what he's like. Everyone piles into my car and we head toward school. Hopefully, the second part of this evening goes more smoothly.