Closed Unexpectedly Awkward

[Freya Odegard]

Freya had been living with Asaiah for about a year now and she had never regretted the decision, still thankfull for the fact that he offered her a place to stay after she had to leave her own apartment this time last year. It had been fun to hang out with him so much after basically not seeing him for years, feeling like their friendship was better than it ever had been back at school. Recently, however, things had been changing and she wasn't quite sure what to do about it. She had always liked Asaiah, he had always been one of, if not her best friend but now something had changed, here feelings were.. different. She actually liked him. Liked, liked him and she didn't know how those feelings had come to be or why she was now somehow seeing him in a different light. Perhaps it was because at school they had never spend as much time together as they did now because he was always with his other friends. Who knew, if they had hung out more at school she might have even developed a crush on him back then. But she didn't. She had a crush on him now. A crush she hadn't expected and didn't know how to handle. A crush she hadn't even told her brother about yet, although she had been curious as to what he would have to say about it. Not knowing what to do with the information that she had developed feelings for her best friend Freya had tried to just act normal, keep her cool ever since she realized what those feelings were. She had thought about telling Asaiah for the smallest second but had quickly gotten away from that idea. What if he didn't like her back and she would've made everything awkward? No, that wasn't what she wanted so she decided not to tell him, or anyone, at least not for now. Shaking away the thoughts Freya stood up from behind her desk and headed into the kitchen to get herself a coffee, before making herself comfortable on the couch. Now that the wheels in her head were spinning she knew she wasn't going to be able to finish her work, so she might as well hang out in the living room for a second untill she finished her coffee.

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

Asaiah never thought that he would end up developing a major crush on his best friend, but as he walked up the stairs of the building complex after coming back from the final Quidditch practice of the year, it dawned on him that he liked Freya as more than just friends and that he may have done so for some time now. He had lived with other people before she moved in with him but never excitedly looked forward to coming home until recently. His first thought was that it was probably just his emotions running wild. It had been almost been seven years now since his parents and sister died on a plane crash and yet he still had trouble celebrating the Christmas holidays without them. But as he stepped into the apartment and saw Freya there on the couch, he knew that whatever he was feeling for his best friend had nothing to do with him being extra emotional because of the upcoming holidays. It was strange but also kind of exciting to feel his heart flutter for the person he'd least expected it to happen with. ''Hey you,'' Asaiah said whilst closing the door behind him and throwing his duffel bag on the chair closest to him. ''Got any of that left for me?'' he asked jokingly, nodding at the cup of coffee. He could use some after today's practice session. Long and tiring, as always. He dropped into the other chair and ran a hand through his hair, head rolling towards her. ''How's work going?''

 

[Freya Odegard]

Freya felt a slight rush of adrenaline rush through her body when she heard the front door close, indicating that Asaiah was back from practice, and she wanted to mentally slap herself for it. How had this even happened? A couple of weeks ago she was fine, completely fine with living with her best friend and then for some reason things started to change. She started to pick up on things he did that she never paid much attention to, started to feel herself be attracted to him on top of that. Worst thing was that she wanted it to be a simple crush, something that might just go away after a little while so things didn't have to get weird. But she knew that it wasn't, she was too close to Asaiah to feel like it could be like that. It might have started off like that, but her feelings had definitely developed and she just knew they weren't going to go away anytime soon. "Hey." She greeted him back from her spot on the sofa with a little smile. "Nope," Freya shook her head before drinking the last sip of her coffee. "Kitchen's just a few steps away though, I figure you can manage." She joked back as she pointed the cup she was holding in the direction of the kitchen, knowing fully well that if he'd ask nicely she'd go and make it for him. After all, she had been sat behind a desk most of the day whilst he was out swinging a bat around. One of those would definitely cost more energy than the other. "It's fine, not much interesting happening lately." She shrugged at his question, although she knew there'd be quite a few meetings in the upcoming weeks and she'd have to spend some more time at the ministry's in both Norway and New Zealand. "What about training?" Freya asked in return, carefully observing him to see if he had managed to get hurt during practice. It was something she was used to doing, but recently she would notice her eyes linger slightly longer than they normally would. Even if she tried to force them not to.

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

Asaiah shifted uncomfortably out of the chair to grab himself a cup of coffee too and took her cup with him to refill it whilst pouring himself some. He liked how casual them living together had become. It had been a little awkward at the beginning because neither of them had really kept in touch with the other, but it didn't take long for the awkwardness to be gone entirely, thankfully. It had been as if they had never stopped hanging out. He figured that it was a testament to how strong their friendship initially was if they could pick it up again without much trouble. She was his first friend after all. He nodded when she told him that nothing interesting had happened and chuckled softly. Sometimes he wondered if the reason Freya didn't often talk about her job was because he'd think that it was boring. It wasn't as exciting as Quidditch, sure, but it was still rather important, and he'd honestly didn't mind hearing about it. ''I swear Odette wants me to end up hospitalized,'' Asaiah answered as he made his way over to the kitchen, rubbing his hand over the left side of his body. It was already bruising nicely, the spot where one of her bludgers had hit him, but it was nothing he couldn't live with. ''Might have to lie down for a bit later but otherwise, I think it went well. We're definitely ready to do some serious damage once the season's back up again.'' He walked back to the living room with the two cups of coffee, placing hers on the table in front of her. He then quietly stared at his friend for a moment, the thought of whether he should ask her out on a date running wild in his mind. ''So what are you up to the rest of the week? Anything time-consuming happening?'' he asked out of curiosity, feeling himself getting a little nervous as certain thoughts began to make it to the surface.

 

[Freya Odegard]

Freya hadn't expected Asaiah to actually get his coffee himself after joking about it, much less him taking her cup for a refill as well. She wasn't complaining though, after an entire day of doing paperwork her brain felt like it had been fried and a little extra coffee couldn't hurt. At times when the work balance between paperwork and actual human interaction was thrown off and paperwork had the upper hand it could make her question her work. Did she actually like it? But then she'd realized she did, paperwork was just an unfortunate part of it. "I don't think she'd benefit from that." Freya responded as she frowned for a second, the frown being more about him getting hurt literally all of the time rather than anything else. She always felt like as a beater he was the one who should be doing the hurting, not the one getting hurt so much. Not that being the one to hurt others sounded better to her. "That's.. good." She nodded, trying to sound as convincing as possible. Freya had grown to like quidditch, she really did, even got enthusiastic about going to games so she'd be able to cheer on her friend. Nevertheless, she still had some difficulty accepting the fact that hurting others and getting hurt was just a big part of the sport. She tried not to show it, although she was sure Asaiah knew nonetheless. He knew her after all and if there was one thing she disliked it was seeing others hurt. "Not much, mostly finishing up my papers." She responded with a little shrug. "Next week I'll be away more though." She added with a smile, excited to get away from the paperwork and be around people some more, to be able to discuss things with her co-workers. "Why?" Freya questioned him curiously. "You planning on throwing a party whilst I'm out or something?"

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

Asaiah tried to hide his grin by covering his mouth with his hand. She didn't sound very convincing to him but it didn't matter much. He found it strangely cute. He knew that she didn't like to see him or others get hurt but that was just Quidditch sometimes, and he wasn't going to deny that, especially if she was coming to more and more games with him. At least she wasn't actively trying to stop him like Zara had tried to do all those years ago, which was another thing he liked about Freya. She let him do what he wanted to do within reason. He nodded at her answer, though didn't know if he was happy or sad that she'd be away more next week. He shook his head and smiled back nonetheless. ''Not a party, no,'' he added, trying to muster up the courage for what he was going to ask next. ''Although that would be fun, maybe I'll invite Leif over,'' he added, getting sidetracked a little by seriously considering throwing a party whilst she would be away. ''No, I was kind of hoping that maybe you... you would like to do something with me? You know, like maybe go see a movie or go to a restaurant rather than just, you know, order food at home? But if you are super busy, then, you know, we would always wait to do something when you get back from Norway again? I wouldn't want to keep you away from your work, of course.'' Did he think that trying to ask his best friend out was going swimmingly? Absolutely not, but at least it was out there now. He hid his face behind the cup of coffee he was holding, hoping that he hadn't just ruined something good.

 

[Freya Odegard]

Freya shook her head when Asaiah hadn't planned on throwing a party, but now seemed to be seriously considering it. "Rude." She said jokingly, acting as if he had offended her. "You know you're also allowed to throw a party when I am here, right?" She laughed, wondering now if he'd actually go through with it. Her brother wouldn't mind being invited if he did decide to throw a party though, she was certain about that. Ever since she had started living with Asaiah her brother had come to hang out quite a couple of times and it made her glad to see how well the two of them got along with each other. Especially since they were the two people she was the closest two in her life. Freya couldn't help but chuckle at his next question and the ramble that went it. "Asaiah we live together, we do things all the time." She smiled, slightly confused about why he was saying so much when he'd usually only need a couple of words to see if she wanted to hang out. She was still trying to be cool about her whole feelings situation and in doing that she was being completely oblivious to what he was actually asking. Or what he tried to ask, meant to ask. "But yeah, sounds good. I'm pretty sure I'll have time to hang out." Freya answered with a little shrug, being quite certain that she wouldn't be away the entire week. She'd definitely have time to hang out with him, she normally found time to hang out with him and recently she even found herself making time to hang out with him. Although that started happening after she realized she had feelings for him. So much for trying not to change anything based on her feelings.

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

It took Asaiah a moment to come up with what he could say next. He thought that he had been as clear as day about asking his friend out, or at least thought that the attempt of doing so was. But apparently it wasn't and it was now making him feel even more awkward about it. Heart racing unexpectedly, the only thing he could think of now was what a fool he'd be making of himself. Either he had indeed not been clear enough about what he was asking, or this was her way of telling him that she was not interested in doing anything resembling a date with him. Deciding that it was probably, hopefully, the former, he mustered up the courage to once again ask her out. Hopefully properly this time. ''No, Freya, I-I know that we do things all the time, which is awesome, by the way, but I was kind of hoping that... we could maybe do something as potentially more than just friends? You know, a-a date.'' Not wanting to make eye contact in case she would reject him, he stared into his cup instead and began chewing the inside of his cheek - a tick he wasn't aware of he was still doing until now.

 

[Freya Odegard]

Freya was still a bit confused as to why Asaiah would ask her if she wanted to do something with so many more words than he normally would. What also surprised her was that he stayed quiet for a moment after she answered, looking almost as if she had something wrong. Had she said something wrong? How could she possibly say something wrong if he was just asking if she wanted to hang out. At least she thought that's what he was asking, untill he asked again. Freya could feel her heart jump in her chest at the mention of the word date. "Wait, are you.. serious?" The question left her lips before she could even think about it as her brain tried to fully grasp what he had just said. She knew they joked around a lot but this didn't seem like a joke. This seemed like he was honestly asking her out on a date. Freya needed a couple of seconds to get her thoughts in order before looking straight back at Asaiah, unable to stop a small chuckle form escaping her mouth. "I'm sorry, what I meant to say is.. Yeah, I'd like that." She said, feeling a smile spread across her face almost as quickly as she could feel her heart thumping in her chest. It almost seemed silly to her how she had been trying so hard to not risk anything whilst he just decided to go for it. It was a classic example of their personalities, really.

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

Asaiah couldn't stand having to wait for her to give him an answer that could potentially undo everything they'd been building up again for the past year or so. As someone who's life was generally fast-paced, waiting around wasn't really his strong suit. He really liked Freya as a friend but would not mind taking it a step further if she was down for it as well, which, hopefully, she would be. His heart sank when she asked him if he was being serious about it and he couldn't help to feel a little disappointed. It wasn't as if he expected her to say yes to him asking her out but he had still hoped that she would. Not really knowing what to say next, he just continued to stare into his now empty cup. He couldn't remember the last awkward pause between the two of them, so the silence present at the moment was something unusual. He didn't like it. Wanting to break the silence by trying to make a joke out of it all, Asaiah was about the speak up when she did it before he could do so. His eyes spread wide upon hearing what she said and he found himself slowly looking up at her in mild surprise. ''Really? Okay, cool!'' he said, chuckling at his own stupidness now. ''Sooo, when should we go on this date?''

 

[Freya Odegard]

Freya felt a bit bad for not having understood Asaiah's question, for making him have to ask her twice. Especially since she hadn't had the guts to do anything about her own feeling because in all honesty there was quite a lot on the line. They had been friends for a long time after all, heck they even lived together. She had been scared to think of what would happen if she were to admit her feelings and he didn't feel the same. Which is exactly how he must've felt and why she felt slightly bad for having to make him ask again. Her initial reply probably didn't help either, but the smile she gave him after that couldn't have been more clear. "Yeah, really." Freya chuckled at his surprise. Now that she knew that he at least liked her as well it felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. "Well I don't know," She started her response to his answer with a shrug. "I mean you asked me, so I kinda feel like the decisions about when, where and what are on you now." Freya concluded with a laugh.

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

Asaiah let out a sigh of relief once he noticed the smile spreading on Freya's face. He had been worried for a second that he had made a fool out of himself by asking her out. It wouldn't have been the first time he'd have made a fool of himself in front of her, though usually, it was for comedic purposes - to either make her laugh or to liven up the mood a little after a long day of work or Quidditch practice. This, however, would be him making a fool out of himself on a whole different level, a level he did not think he would be comfortable with. He smiled back at her when she told him that it was really his choice to decide when and what they would be doing. He ran a hand through his messy hair, trying to make something out of it whilst thinking of things they could do for their date. The first thing that came to mind was to go and watch a Muggle movie with perhaps pizza afterwards, which was really just what they did on a regular Saturday, but they'd have to get out of the house instead this time around. ''Well, if you don't have anything to do this weekend, we could go to one of those 'movie theatres' in town and grab a pizza on the way home?'' Asaiah suggested.

 

[Freya Odegard]

With her brain still fried from all of the paperwork she had been doing today Freya felt like it would just be easier to let Asaiah come up with an idea for their date. She had to admit that having the word date in a sentence regarding him sounded strange. They had been friends for a long time, even if they had only connected again some time ago when they bumped into each other, they had known each other since they were eleven. Which was.. pretty much half of her life so to now mention they'd be going on a date would take some getting used to. She was excited though, curious if it would be any different to their normal hang outs. It also made her wonder if there was a chance this could've happened long ago. If they had been closer at school, spend more time together, would she also have grown to like him then? It seemed highly likely to her, but then again she'd never know. What she did know was that right at this moment in time things seemed good. "Ah, so this is actually all just a sham to get me out of the house." Freya joked when Asaiah mentioned his idea, which sounded an awful lot like what they usually did, just somewhere different from than their living room. "But seriously yeah, sounds good." She smiled, in all honesty happy to get out of the house for a little while after how much time she had spend inside working the past week.

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

''Ah heck, you went and figured out my plan,'' Asaiah replied jokingly. It really was funny that the two of them were going out on a date soon. It was funny in a good way, a way he found hard to describe otherwise. She was his oldest friend and even though their friendship had always been a little off, there were times he wouldn't talk to her for a while, she'd been there for pretty much everything. It made him wonder if things would be different now if the two of them had spent more time together. He partially blamed himself for their weird friendship all throughout school, with friends such as Marisol and Wyatt it was quite difficult to hang out with anyone else - there was also the year he'd been confined to his common room after classes because of the break-in into the Ravenclaw common room. It had made hanging out with his friends really hard. He was happy that they had reconnected little over a year ago; she was such a good-natured person that he could feel it having an effect on him, too. ''Alright, that's good,'' Asaiah said before jumping up. ''Now I'm going to take a shower because I stink, badly, buuuuut I will be back in a few,'' he told her with a little smile before heading towards the bathroom. He didn't know if things would get awkward between them now, but he was more than willing to try it anyway.

 

[Freya Odegard]

In all honesty making the joke herself did make Freya realize how much time she often spend cooped up inside. Perhaps she should just head out more and just drag Asaiah along, even if he had just come from training. Or maybe she should spend a little bit more time with some of her other friends between work. She chuckled at his response though, knowing she could always joke with him and hoping things might only get better. It did make her wonder whether things would get awkward when they'd actually go on the date, but in that moment she also decided for herself that it wouldn't. Putting a different label on basically doing what they did all the time and adding a bit more meaning to it didn't mean they had to act any differently than they did anyways. So no, she decided there would be no awkwardness. Now she could only hope Asaiah would do the same. Even if he had been her first friend at school it was funny to think how they had somehow managed to reconnect so easily after not having talked for years and even after him having dropped out of school without mentioning it to her. Nevertheless, that was in the past. The main thing was they did reconnect and even if they were friends in school she had gotten to know him better now than she ever did at that time, grown to like him a whole lot more as well. "Please do." Freya laughed at his remark of stinking, although she had barely noticed anything else than the beating of her own heart during their entire conversation. She smiled down at her mug that she now noticed still had coffee in it, which by now would have definitely gotten cold but she had been to focussed on not misinterpreting what Asaiah had been saying that she hadn't even take more than a couple of sips. She couldn't help but to keep thinking about going on that date when she made her way to the kitchen to get rid of her coffee, a feeling of mixed excitement and nerves already forming in the pit of her stomach even when it was still a couple of days away.