Page 34 of Temptation at Randy's

“But… how do you feel now? I know this stuff can mess with your head.”

“Yeah.” I chewed on my lip. That was one way of putting it. “I’m not sure what to think, or feel, truthfully. I never thought this would happen.”

Whatever it was that I’d said, it made Claude frown. It made them forget the half-eaten pancake too. Being under their full attention was nerve-wracking. Claude was intense when they wanted to be.

“Why not?”

Oh.

That’s what got them all frowning.

It was kind of sweet.

“I mean, you know, I’m not… the best at meeting people. Or making a move.”

“You’re fine.”

“That’s what you say,” I mumbled.

There was no heat in the words, though. Claude didn’t take the bait, either. I was happy they didn’t. Happier than I had any business being, probably.

“It messed with my head, too.”

I hadn’t realized silence had fallen between us. I snapped my head up when Claude broke it.

“It did?” I gulped.

“Yeah.” They looked away for a second, a hand running through their hair. “I’d never been so invested, I guess. It’s weird.”

“Oh?”

I frowned. I didn’t know if it was supposed to be a compliment or the exact opposite. I did not breathe until Claude started speaking again.

“When I woke up, before I came downstairs, I was thinking back to, y’know, The Video TM.” They swallowed. “How, I discovered something about myself, and it led to… the worst months of my life, basically.”

“Right.” I nodded.

I’d love to say more, but Claude hadn’t opened up about it. There was no way I could utter a word without somehow fucking up. Everything was too fresh and too new to take that risk.

The issue with not saying more than one word was that I had more time to go over what they’d said and what it meant. Claude had come to me less than an hour ago, and they’d seemed fine. Surely, they weren’t dreading whatever was happening.

Part of me screamed that Claude wouldn’t be so cruel to ask me to spend the day if that was the case. Another more insecure part reminded me that I didn’t actually know them beyond the persona they used to play in front of a camera.

“You’re freaking out,” Claude said.

And they were avoiding the topic.

“Well, yeah.”

How could I not?

Claude licked their bottom lip before they cut another piece of pancake. I didn’t know if I should be frustrated or relieved. Surely, if they were still eating, it couldn’t be so bad.

Surely.

“Sorry, I’m kind of questioning everything I knew about myself, again. I do wanna keep hanging out, though.”

Keep hanging out.

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