@fluggedup (continued from here):
Today had been a day like no other, where Randy had to force himself to become comfortable in the body of another person. His friend's brother, and apparently, Tiffany's friend. Randy had no idea that Tiffany and Dewey were friends, which wouldn't have been that weird normally... but between the bracelet in Dewey's room and the heart eye emojis next to her name in his phone, Randy couldn't help but be suspicious. Lucky for him, this weird day gave him the opportunity to find out the truth for himself. He'd confront it without her even knowing. His girlfriend seemed to be in an extra good mood today, which he wasn't sure was a good or bad thing. Was it because he wasn't around all day? It was actually refreshing though, seeing her not annoyed at him and genuinely smiling, to the point that he couldn't even be bothered about it. Instead, he tried being extra friendly to her as Dewey, testing the waters to see how she'd respond. It was hard to tell what the vibe was, especially since he'd never actually seen Tiff and Dewey hang out in the past. He smiled as she denied flirting, sort-of relieved but also planning to keep pushing a little bit, just to make sure. "Friendly? Well, I can be friendly too," he replied, smile still present. He wasn't even sure what to do, normally not so awkward as himself, but he wasn't himself. He didn't know what to do with his hands, unsure of how to be natural around his girlfriend when she thought he was someone else. Maybe he should put them in a different environment, something almost date-like. "Uhh .. Wanna get some fro-yo? I've kinda had a sweet tooth all day."
After waking up with a terrible hangover, Randy’s mood had changed remarkably fast, bouncing back way quicker than Tiff was used to seeing. He’d surprised her by wanting to spend the whole day together and he’d been so uncharacteristically doting and excitable that it was a breath of fresh air compared to the state of decline their relationship had been in for longer than they cared to admit to themselves or others. It was hard to deny now—and maybe they truly hadn’t even seen it at first because they’d been together so long and the issues were too deep-seated—but for a long time they’d been acting like the tension, jealousy, arguments and growing resentment between them were totally normal and acceptable in a relationship.
Dewey was someone who had been challenging that status quo lately, making Tiffany question what it was that she deserved from a partner, what she wanted, and whether those needs were being met with her current boyfriend. It wasn’t him saying anything along those lines directly to her, but just the way he treated her that made her feel so different from Randy. By the time he messaged her to meet up today, she had actually been feeling more content than she had in a while with Randy, but he’d had to go meet a friend himself, so they planned to get back together later and Tiff was free to hang out with Dewey for a bit.
Of course she knew he was interested in her, but he was turning up the direct flirtation even more than usual, pushing the boundaries of what was justifiable banter between two friends before she’d actually have to put her foot down and remind him that she was taken. If Tiffany was truly honest with herself, deep down she didn’t want to reject Dewey. She wanted to keep this—whatever this light, fun thing was between them—going for as long as possible, despite being with Randy at the end of the day…It was selfish, but she wasn’t ready to leave him yet, wasn’t one hundred percent sure beyond a doubt that it was the only option, and today of all days had proven that with how happy Randy had been making her so far. Even if Dewey was something special on his own.
“Mm, I could go for some fro-yo,” she agreed, deciding not to address his comment about how he could be friendly too. She wasn’t sure whether or not that meant he was going to ramp up the flirting he seemed to think she was guilty of, but his tone certainly suggested it. Subtlety wasn’t really in his nature. “Do you wanna go to the same place as last time or try something new?”