Dan showed up mid-afternoon carrying a cheap toolbox like he had been summoned by the dripping faucet. The kitchen faucet had been dripping for days, loudest whenever the apartment went quiet. He did not wait to be asked. He set the box down, rolled up his sleeves, and got to work like the apartment still belonged to him a little.
Lin hovered nearby, handing him tools and murmuring thanks.
“You’re actually saving us,” she said when the dripping finally stopped.
The warmth in her voice was simple and genuine. Domestic. Apparently that was enough to make me hate him again.
I stood in the doorway watching them, arms folded tight. I knew how to compete with sex. I knew how to make myself unforgettable when clothes came off. But this was different. This was being useful. I could barely boil pasta without trying to burn down the kitchen.
Useless bitch.
Dan shrugged like it was nothing. “Nothing to it, babe. Happy to help.”
Afterward, Dan followed Lin toward her room. I stood up to follow them. But as they stepped inside, Lin glanced back at me, almost apologetic, before closing the door.
The lock clicked.
I stood there in the hallway, staring at the closed door like it had slapped me. My hand moved automatically to the knob. It did not turn. I tried again, quieter this time. Apparently being excluded was embarrassing even when nobody could see me.
I pressed my forehead against the wood and listened.
Dan made that low, guttural sound again, only rougher than before. Almost helpless. Lin spoke to him softly, like there was no reason for anyone else to hear. I tried to imagine what they were doing, but the sounds did not line up with anything familiar. It felt personal. Like they had done this before and never thought to tell me.
The lock had not clicked by accident. Lin had wanted me outside.
I stayed in the hallway longer than I should have, straining to catch every sound. This was what she used to go through. All those nights when Dan and I were loud and careless, doors half-open, treating her like background noise.
Now I was outside, listening to them and inventing the rest.
When the sounds finally quieted, I slipped away to the living room and tried to look normal. I tucked my hands under my thighs so Lin would not see them shake.
The door opened before I had managed to look normal.
Lin came out first, hair messy, wearing an oversized T-shirt. Dan followed, looking relaxed enough to make me want to throw something at him. He nodded at me on his way to the kitchen.
Lin sat beside me and waited for me to say it first.
“You wanted me outside.”
Lin flinched. “Mia… it wasn’t like that.”
“It wasn’t about me?” I laughed. “That’s what you’re going to say, right? You listened to us for months while I left the door open and acted like you weren’t there.”
Lin looked away.
“Is that what this was?” I asked. “My turn?”
Lin reached for my hand, but I pulled it back. She left her hand between us after I pulled away.
“It wasn’t about punishing you.”
I wanted to believe her badly enough to hate myself for it.
But I kept hearing the lock. Kept seeing her glance back before she closed the door.
Dan came back and dropped onto the couch on Lin’s other side, apparently unaware that he had walked into an argument.
Lin sat between us, and somehow being included again felt worse.
Can’t fucking trust anyone. Stupid cunt for thinking this could work.
I got up, went to my room, and locked the door behind me.