Fell In Love With My Roomy Chapter 63

"Give me a call or something before bed, alright?" Dane tells me, and I sigh, keeping the phone pressed to my ear.

"I'll try, I'll be up late tonight, but I'll send you a text," I reply with a shrug.

"Okay, great. Have a good night, Juls. I'll see you Friday for our date."

I have regrets, huge regrets, and I don't have a clue what to do. Dane has been borderline obsessive since we got back together. He texts and calls all the time, he wants to see me every night and have me come over to his place.

As if it wasn't bad enough that we had such a messy split last week, it was only worsened by the new terms we settled on at breakfast the next morning.

The night before, I was initially taken with Dane's effort. That he showed up in an effort to get me back and that he was prepared to let me take some time to think about it. But the next morning when I woke up in his bed, I felt nagged. I felt like I'd really done the wrong thing, and I couldn't figure out why.

It was nice to be wanted, and Dane had a way of making me feel special, but not in ways that I wanted. He wouldn't send me cute messages to let me know he'd been thinking about me, leave me cute notes, or suggest we do easier dates that took pressure off of me. It was a lot to go out with Dane; he turned everything into a spectacle and tried to win my attention through grand gestures with a high price tag.

Most girls would be thrilled with that, but I'd known him for over four weeks now, and I was getting bored with the fact that he really didn't seem to know me at all. I knew him, I knew he liked craft whiskey, that he drank his coffee black, I knew his routine top to bottom because he was such a creature of habit. Meanwhile, he continued to take me out to fancy restaurants, forget my friends' names, and buy me red roses.

He never wanted to come to my apartment, never. It was putting a massive strain on every relationship in my life. I needed rest and time to get things done, and Dane wanted to see me all of the time but wouldn't meet me halfway and just come over.

I should be happy, I'm in a new relationship, and I should be excited. But I had a hard time introducing Dane to anyone as my boyfriend. He felt more like a friend to me, and a bad one as the days dragged on.

The worst part about this whole thing was Dane told me that to make our relationship work, he didn't want me to hang out with Kent anymore. There was only so much he could control; we lived together, and he couldn't know what was going on every second of every day. But he said he thought Kent was too into me, which I didn't believe for one second.

He got jealous so easily; it was shocking. I did feel like I owed it to my roommates to continue to hang out with them. They were my friends first, but I always kept details about spending time with them out of my conversations with Dane. He'd get fired up pretty fast about things, and it was driving me nuts.

I'd considered breaking up with him; I'd considered it a lot recently, but the thing stopping me was that I was the one who agreed to starting over. I agreed to stay over with him, and I forgave him for that fight without a clear head. This relationship was on me, and ending it felt hypocritical. It wasn't a good reason, but it was what held me back. I didn't want to upset him.

But I knew just as well that if I wouldn't dump him, then we'd have to have a conversation because this wasn't working. It was hard on me, and I was really missing that supportive care aspect of our relationship. I told him so many things about me, but he just didn't seem to listen, I didn't feel comfortable touching him yet, and I knew sooner or later, he'd start asking me questions.

This is too hard for me.

I wasn't built to be in a relationship with someone I don't have deep feelings for. I thought we had things in common, and we did, but we were different, and those differences were making it hard to sleep at night.

I sigh and scroll through my contacts while lying in bed and dial home. I want to hear my mom's voice.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Mom," I sigh.

"How's school going? How was your week?" She asks, sounding eager to hear the details, and I smile.

"School's fine, work's fine," I shrug, pressing my lips together.

I hadn't told her about Dane yet. I hadn't dated in years, and I didn't want her to freak out or, worse, ask me questions. But I should be almost a month into it now, which is probably long enough to come clean.

"Mom, I have to tell you something," I whisper, tracing a line on the quilt over my bed.

"Juls, what's wrong?" She asks, and I shake my head.

"Nothing, I... um...." I take a breath, gather my courage, and clear my throat. "I met someone."

"You did?" She asks, sounding surprised.

"Yeah, I started seeing him a few weeks ago. I wanted to make sure we got along before I told you," I admit.

"Wow," she answers, sounding almost shocked but not in a bad way. Like she's amazed. "S-so, are you together now? Officially?"

"He asked me to be his girlfriend a little while ago."

"Well, tell me about him. What's he like?" She asks, and I smile briefly.

"He's really nice, does a lot of cool things for me. We've been out a bunch of times together, and he's met my friends," I answer, and she pauses slightly.

"Oh, so it's not......never mind," she says quickly, and I furrow my eyebrows.

"It's not who?"

"Well, I... I thought the other night when I took you and Kent to dinner that.... well, you just seemed to get along. I assumed it was him," she whispers, and my stomach drops. Even my own mom thought I was with Kent. It seemed more and more like the only person who thought we had no chemistry was Kent. "But if he met your friends, then.....it can't be him."

"No, his name is Dane, Mom. I met him one night at a bar," I explain. "He was really into me and asked to see me again."

"Well, if you're feeling serious about this, then... he should come for dinner here one night," she says, and I nod.

My family was so incredibly important to me. If Dane wasn't liked by them, then there was no way I could keep this up.

"If I ask him to come on Saturday night, would that work?" I ask, pulling my thumb away from my lips after chewing my cuticles. That was a nervous habit of mine. When I got worried about things, I started biting off dead skin.

"I think so, what time?" She asks, and I pull out my planner from my school bag on the floor.

"I work until five, and it takes about a half-hour to get out...... maybe between six-thirty and seven?"

"Alright, I'll keep the date. If you both can't, just let me know."

"I will, Mom, I promise," I assure her, and I feel my stomach knot up. "Wait, Mom, there is this one other thing you should know."

"What is it, honey?" She asks, and I sigh.

"Dane's a little.....older than me," I mumble, knowing she'd flip out.

"How much older?" She asks quietly.

"He's twenty-six," I whisper, moving on to my pointer finger to chew on. "Twenty-six, Juls?" She gasps, sounding repulsed, and I sigh.

"I know it sounds really big as an age gap, but we get along well, and I-"

"Honey, you need to think about this," she sighs. "Would you date someone five years younger than you?"

"No, Mom, that's a crime."

"My feelings exactly," she answers, and I sigh, laying back on my pillows.

"I don't want to upset you, I just.... you know I worry about you. Please be careful, honey."

"I will be, Mom, I promise," I insist. "You know me, I'm not stupid. I think you'll really like him. He's very kind, and I know he wouldn't hurt me."

"Well....I suppose you do live with three boys. They'll keep you safe," she sighs, and I smile. They did keep me safe. Every time I left to meet up with him, they reminded me to call if I needed help. "I guess I'll find out on Saturday."

"Please keep an open mind," I beg, and she sighs.

"Alright, I'll try," she tells me, and I feel relieved. If my parents didn't like him... then I'd really have to evaluate ending this. It wasn't really good for either of us. I was stretched between my roommates and Dane, and I was getting sick of sneaking around and telling lies to try to keep everyone happy.

"I should go; I have to finish a paper," I sigh.

"Alright, honey, I love you," she insists, and I smile.

"I love you too. Have a good week," I answer, hanging up the call and sitting up on my bed. I need to make dinner.