Why Do We Try? (Guy.)

[Adrianna Carstyn]

What was it about her that she couldn't keep any of her guy friends if she dated them? Luke, Jayden, Lani, Venn; she had to be the problem. Dating friends was always risky because there was the chance that things would go wrong and you'd lose that friend. Apparently for Adrianna the odds were against her. She wasn't allowed to date a boy that she was friends with because in the end it wouldn't work out and she'd be friendless. Even if it was one of her closest friends. Just look at what was going on with her and Venn. After all these years they finally got together and before they could even explore their relationship, he was taken away from her and she barely got to talk to him. It wasn't the relationship she'd been expecting or hoping for. And to think, he could have been the guy for her.

That wasn't even the worst scenario. Lani took that prize.

It had started out like such a great friendship that led into a wonderful relationship. Until the lies came out and she left her heart dangling on her sleeve. Then things got messy, they were crumbling from the inside out and in the end they barely talked. Here he said he'd prove her wrong by sticking around and being a friend to her, but he hadn't proved her wrong. He was proving her theory right. It had taken him weeks to even figure out that she was having problems and when he had, instead of calmly taking care of it, he yelled at her and treated her like a child. Oh, but that wasn't all. Then he takes her razors away thinking that she'd do it more even when she told him she wouldn't. Trust had always been a problem between them and it was ruining their friendship the way it had ruined their relationship.

Was it sad that even when Odion was taking Lani's side, he had treated her better than her actual friend? At least he hadn't been a jerk about it and snapped at her.

Adrianna sat in her dorm room, door locked as usual and without razors to take the edge off. She was engulfing herself in music and sketching in frustration. Nothing was coming out right. It all looked dark and ended up like a horror flick when she was finished. Lani said to sketch or write when she was upset, but what he didn't get was that when she tried, it only made her want the addiction more. She craved it, but she was fighting it. What was worse, she didn't know who to go to now. Lani had always been her rock that helped her with these sort of things, or Venn even. She didn't have either and it was tearing her apart while she sat there.

Finally she reached for her phone and began scrolling through her contacts. She hit 'G' and her thumb hit send before she knew what she was doing. It rang once, twice...what if he didn't answer? And then she heard a voice on the other end that caused her a deep sigh of relief, "Guy?"

[Guy Roeby]

There had been a time where Guy seriously considered asking Adrianna out. She was beautiful, kind, funny, charming, and danced really well! She even accepted him with all his quirky flaws, and she in turn had become an open book. He knew a lot about her life, about the heartaches she went through when dating guys. He often felt like she had overlooked him, that he wasn’t ever going to be good enough and they would remain friends forever. It wasn’t until he realized she had enough going on in her life that she didn’t need to know all these things. That, and it was just a crush, he could get over it for her sake. And in doing so, their friendship had become stronger. Besides, then he didn’t have to work up the courage to ask her out!

Guy wasn’t the type of person to intrude, even when he probably should. He simply wasn’t that kind of person. He wasn’t stubborn and he wasn’t forceful, and even while he watched Adrianna put her faith in other people, he secretly hoped that didn’t mean she had forgotten she could put her trust in him. But she didn’t seem to notice until he was her final option, when everyone else had failed. He didn’t really mind.

And his phone went off.

“Hello?” He answered, picking at his dirty fingernails. Football season was in, and he was practicing hard. He was wiped from his training session, but hearing her voice made him pay attention. “Adri? Hey beautiful! How are you?”

[Adrianna Carstyn]

It was a good thing Guy never asked her out. She didn’t know how she’d have taken it if he had asked her out. Of course she’d consider it, he was attractive (hot really), so funny all the time, sweet, a genuinely nice guy and that type was hard to find. But maybe that was why she never went for him. He was a great friend, one of the best she had and in her sub-conscious mind, maybe it was yelling at her not to date him because of her track record. She was always worried about losing the guys in her life, but what if she lost him? Adrian wasn’t sure how she’d react to it. It’d be heartbreaking and horrible, she didn’t even want to think of it.

When he answered, his bright tone made her smile and she curled up on her bed, happy for some reprieve from the stress. The way he greeted her, it just made her forget that she was in the middle of hell because at least she still had someone who really cared for her and wasn’t being a big jerk face. She shook it off and chewed on her lip when he asked the essential ‘how are you?’ question.

Gulping slightly, she controlled her voice to make sure it wouldn’t give way to how hard things were getting the more time that passed. “Hey, cutie. I’m good, how are you?” Sure she heard about him a lot lately, due to her roommate being so head over heels for him, but it wasn’t the same. Oh and she fully intended on getting the scoop about what was going on between them. It would at least give her a distraction from this hell hole.

[Guy Roeby]

"Just got inside from football practice. I would kill to have A/C outside." He chuckled over the phone, followed by a sigh. It was rare he received phone calls, texting was so much easier. He actually had time to think about things. Over the phone he was just as stupid in real life. A/C outside? Really Roeby?

"Was just about to shower up," he added, seeing as he was about to sit on his bed, hesitated, and opted for the floor instead. It didn't matter if the floor got a little sweaty. "So, what? You wanted to hear my beautiful voice over the phone?" He teased, bringing his knees up, working on getting his gear off. This would prove difficult being on the phone - oh well, at least he wasn't standing. He could fall, or knock into anything.

He knew Adrianna was going through a dark time in her life, and there had to be a reason he called her. If there wasn't, then they could just talk. "Did you wanna talk about anything?" He laughed. "Sorry, I'm not letting you answer anything. Talking to myself over here, la de da."

[Adrianna Carstyn]

Adrianna let out a small laugh at his idea, “Hey just find someone with super speed and have them run around the track while you guys are practicing. There’s your A/C outside.” She forgot how nice it was talking to him. His random conversation enhancers just made everything easier to deal with. It kept her mind off of the bad stuff.

Nodding with the phone still pressed to her ear, she rubbed at her arm, the inside of her wrists finally healing after the last time. His question had her laughing again and she snorted, “Oh totally, you know you just have one of those sexy voices. I can’t imagine why I’d ever call you other than to just hear that hotness through the phone.” It was so easy getting back into her old ways with him when he didn’t act like the world was falling like some people did.

“Uhm, I mean, I did, but I don’t want to darken the mood ya know? I like this carefree stuff, I haven’t bantered like this in months,” She said softly.

[Guy Roeby]

"Good idea! Or, we could get a weather manipulator to make it super windy, always. But I wouldn't be too thrilled to get stuck in a tornado," he said, laughing again. Talking with Adri was as easy as breathing now that there weren't butterflies in the way.

"Hey! My voice is the voice of an angel okay?" Honestly, it was easy to be brave over the phone. "Well you can call me any time, wink." He laughed. Nope, he couldn't do sultry, not even as a joke, not ever when the person he was talking to wasn't in front of him.

Guy knew she was falling, but he also knew that she knew. No point drawing attention to it. "Months? Really?" His eyes were wide in shock. "Ah, finally!" He said, then chuckled. "Sorry, just got this ankle guard off. Weak ankles, they're a curse." And he couldn't for the life of him figure out what was wrong with them, despite all the different fields of vision he had.

"We can talk about that other stuff later, or whenever, you know, if it helps getting it off your mind and stuff."

[Adrianna Carstyn]

“Not to mention the weather manipulator might get a little over-worked and bad things could happen. Like a hurricane or something!” Oh boy would that be bad. But sorta funny in that horrifically awful way.

Adrian laughed more naturally this time and shook her head, “Angelic, definitely.” She liked how brave he was over the phone. By what she’d been hearing, she hoped he was flirty and outgoing like this with Ellie. They’d be adorable together. She snorted at his ‘sultry’ voice, “We’ll work on that one, babe. Just keep to angelic for now.”

Once she heard the shock in his voice, she frowned and rolled over to her side, “Yeah…months.” And it had been with Venn. Tears stung the area beneath her eyes and she closed them tight to keep from crying. She really missed him. Just then she heard Guy through the phone and she kept her mind on that. “Weak ankles as a dancer? Never a good thing. Maybe you should try bulking up there twiggy.” Total lie, he wasn’t the least bit twig-like. He was pretty well muscled from what she could see.

“Uhm…I don’t really know when would be best. I need to talk to someone, I just don’t know how to start,” She said quietly.

[Guy Roeby]

"Well there's gotta be more than one weather manipulator right? We can put them on shifts," he mused, though he wasn't at all serious. It was just nice to think about. He sighed. "Looks like I'll just have to continue suffering."

Laughing, Guy felt himself blushing. All alone. In his room. "Fiiiine," he complained, a smirk still playing on his lips. No way would he be like this around Ellie - she'd think he was a total creep. And this kind of silly flirting wasn't easy for him.

"Should I get you the number for a real dirty chat line?" He teased her, unable to help himself. Of course he knew she didn't do this very often, but he wasn't sure why. Just because one person let you down, didn't mean everyone would. It didn't mean everyone would walk away. It just made you appreciate the people you did have.

Laughing, Guy made to take off his other guard, and the other guard, before taking off his shorts. "Eh, I deal. I wear braces when I'm doing playoffs, then I'm pretty much good." He wasn't worried about it.

"Like this," he said, lying back on the floor in the bedroom, the carpet coming up to meet him. "Once upon time, there was this beautiful girl, with this amazing personality. It drew everyone towards her, even the meanest of people. The girl ended up being hurt by one too many guys, trusted in only a couple, and had to go through some tough trials and tribulations." He had no idea where this was coming from, but sounded pretty good, so, he might as well finish! "She doesn't know how the story's gonna end, but neither do I. But I know, it'll be as beautiful as she is."

[Adrianna Carstyn]

“Okay I’ll give you that, shifts might work, but can you imagine how irritable they’d all get. I’m sure they’d want serious pay for it. Not that I’d blame them,” She said with a roll of her eyes at all of this ridiculousness. It was great not talking about anything serious though. Being serious was a drag. “I’m sure you’ll live, darling. You’ve got to be used to being hot by now. I mean how long have you had to deal with it? Like four years now?” She smirked at her joke. That was definitely when she noticed he was going to be a cutie.

Nooo, Ellie wouldn’t find him creepy, she’d probably laugh, hard. Everyone thought of her as this innocent little thing, but Adrian knew who she hung around and when you’re big brother figure was Robbie Wilkes, well there was no innocence left.

“Oh please do…not. You better not be using those chat lines mister, I’ll tell Ellie on you. I’d love to know what she thinks of that,” Adrian snickered. Oh it was nice knowing both of the little love birds. They were adorable. “Kidding, kidding. Promise I wouldn’t ever tell her things like that! But please do tell what’s going on there.” Distraction, she needed a distraction.

Adrian nodded, “Good boy, you need to take care of those ankles of yours. It’d be a shame if something happened and you couldn’t dance anymore. All that talent wasted.” She shook her head and tsked him. But as long as he wore the braces, she couldn’t mother him too much. She only did it because he was like the brother she never had, but always wanted.

Closing her eyes, Adri listened to his little story and hugged her Jack Skellington plush pillow. She smiled faintly as he went on and tears came to her eyes, sliding down her cheeks. “You know I don’t know what I’d do without you right?” She answered after he finished. Adrianna wiped her cheeks and sniffled quietly. “But how can you know it’ll be a happy ending, Guy? I mean, how can it be when my mother’s not going to be here for very much longer?”

[Guy Roeby]

"Serious pay? Bah, well there goes that idea." Guy didn't have enough money to buy new gear, never mind paying someone to keep him cool in it! Chuckling humbly over the phone, Guy wasn't sure what to say. "I uh... Yeah, I don't really think about that." He guessed he was cute and everything, but so were a lot of guys here.

He sat bolt upright, gasping into the phone. "You wouldn't!" But he was grinning. Really though, she wouldn't do that right? "She'd never believe you conspirator of lies! Unless you know, you're recording this, or have her on speaker phone. You don't do you?" He sighed a breath of relief. "I don't know. I really like her? She's down right beautiful, and fun, and quirky, and..." I wanna kiss her. Nah, that wasn't a good thing to vocalize.

"Hey, it wouldn't be the first time a bodily injured also hurt someone's soul." Guy trusted that whatever would be would be.

Guy hand managed to take his shirt off, retreating to his computer chair. He heard her sniffling on the other line in between words. "Sorry, I'm such a doofus," he said, scratching his head. "You gotta pick your attitude. I know Amelia would want that, and she's not leaving you, she'll be with you wherever you go." Maybe growing up with only his mother made him more sensitive to these things, but he had always taken her words to heart. "Honestly, I don't know what I would do if I were in your shoes Adri..."

[Adrianna Carstyn]

“Ha, ya never know, someone else could pitch in? Or better yet you could use those mad dancing skills and go all Magic Mike, that’d score you some major cash. But please, please don’t make me help you pick out your outfits for the stage,” If he thought talking about his hotness was awkward or uncomfortable, she could make it a lot worse, and she just had. “Hey there’s nothing wrong with taking pride in how you look and knowing that you’re not bad to look at. But I know you’re all modest like that. It’s what feeds into your charm.”

His reaction to her threat was perfect and had her outwardly laughing. She even snorted! Adrian covered her mouth and tried speaking between giggles, “Oh of course I wouldn’t! I wouldn’t want her to think you’re some creepy perv or something. What would that make me if I hung out with you?” She smiled and shook her head. This really was helpful, she was laughing and smiling more than she had in so long. When she asked him about Ellie, she listened to his answer and boy did she know he was hooked. They both sounded the same when they talked about each other. Ellie with her swooning and Guy with his pining. They’d be adorable.

“Seriously Guy, there aren’t many girls I’d think are good enough for you, but if you were to date Elisia, I would be super cool with that. She’s a really sweet girl and I want what’s best for both of you, so listen to me when I say you should ask her out,” Adri said with a smile. It didn’t have to be right away or in the extremely near future, but she just hoped it would happen soon. Ellie was always worrying about her and the girl had to stop and have fun instead of playing mother.

Shaking her head, Adrian frowned, “No, not a doofus. You’re an amazing friend. Everything you do for me, it’s insane really.” And in return she over-looked him constantly. What kind of a friend was she? A horrible one, it was a wonder he stuck around. “I-I know, I just, I hate that she won’t be there for some of the most important parts of my life, you know? Like my wedding, if I ever have one. And the birth of her grandchildren. My kids are never going to know how great she was, and they won’t get to be spoiled like I know they would be by her.” She sighed and wiped her cheek again as another tear slid down. His confession made her frown again and she nodded, “I don’t know what I’m going to do in my own shoes.”

[Guy Roeby]

"Magic Mike? Oh no girlfriend, I know you're not talking about that stripper movie with what's his face in it." Laughing, Guy was having a hard time not picturing himself in those stupid outfits. A cowboy one came to mind for some reason. "That's horrible! Although I guess it would make money. But at that point, I'd just buy a little personal A/C unit or something just for me. Then I could quit my stripping ways. Woe is me!" Guy smiled a little bit. "You think I'm charming?" That was new...

"A creepy perv lover?" He suggested, but he wasn't a perv so, it didn't really matter. Still, it was so good to hear her laughing. It really had been months since he last heard something like that coming from her. "I don't know Adri," he said, feeling safe talking about this with her, "you know how I am with girls. I get all nervous and back out." It wasn't like he hadn't thought about it... He put a hand to his face in embarrassment. "And I say the dumbest things around her. Like how I could help her with her makeup," he laughed, "who says that?!"

Guy let out a contented sound. "Thanks Adri, that means a lot to me." And then she was talking about all the things Amelia would miss, and Guy sighed. "They'll know how great she is if you tell them. Look I know that's easier said than done, but... at least you have stories to tell." And he heard her cry and he couldn't just sit around in his room any more. "So do you want clean cuddles, or sweaty ones, 'cause I can quickly shower if you want before I come snuggle you 'til you're laughing again."

[Adrianna Carstyn]

“What’s his face? Pfft, boy that face is gorgeous. And yes I was talking about that, why do you know what it is?” She laughed. “Have you watched it? Oooo, maybe I have something else I should tell Ellie,” Adrianna smirked, once again hoping for a good reaction. He never let her down with that. “Hell yes I think you’re charming. You have that Prince Charming quality about you, I don’t know if it’s the random stuff you talk about or the adorable face that wins everyone over, but you charm everyone.”

Adrianna scrunched her nose, “That sounds hot.” Creepy perv lover, what a lovely job title she could have. It was nice thinking about silly things like that. Hearing about a blossoming young love that reminded her that not every relationship was hopeless, it helped. Adri smiled and nodded against the phone. “I know, but you have to get over that, hun. I mean you could really get any girl you want.” She paused as he continued and laughed before she could hold it back. “Okay, so that is a little a little weird, but what was her reaction? Did she get weirded out by it? Or did she stick around because she found it funny and adorable?” She sighed and pulled her hair around her shoulder, “Look, if she didn’t want to spend time with you, she wouldn’t. But as far as I know, she’s preparing for the next time you guys see each other.”

She smiled again, but it faded as they got into the more intense conversation. And that wasn’t all that she was dealing with. Adrian hadn’t even gotten into her problems with Lani. “You’re coming over? Really? I love you, but please do take a shower before because sweaty cuddles just gross me out, even if they are coming from you.” She smiled and squeezed her plushie, glad that even when she lost one friend, she still had another there for her. "Oh and Guy, don't tell Lani where you're going, you know...if he's there and asks."

[Guy Roeby]

“He’s a butter face and you know it!” Guy said, followed by, “Oops.” Okay, so he knew who Channing Tatum was, and he really didn’t see the big appeal. He groaned. “How about you tell her something nice about me too, okay? I’d really appreciate it, thanks.” He laughed again, followed by a sigh. Adrianna was as amazing as she always had been. Blushing furiously, Guy was at a loss for words. “Uh... yeah, okay.” It wasn’t that he didn’t like the compliment, he just wasn’t used to it. Did people really like his random?

“You could put that on a resume,” Guy suggested, because everyone wanted a creepy perv lover for an employee. “Any girl I want? Seriously? And you’re only telling me this now?” He chuckled, shaking his head. Adrianna was his friend, she was only being nice. Besides, there weren’t that many girls he talked to, and he really didn’t want to go out with someone just because they thought he was hot or whatever, which he wasn’t. He wasn’t ‘cool’ or ‘badass’ he was an oddball, the chances of him getting any girl on a Friday night were slim to none. But he actually liked Ellie, which made things a whole lot more... nerve wrecking. “Well I’m planning this dinner date, so... I guess I’m okay,” he paused before realizing what he’d just said, “but it’s not like I’m taking her out for dinner, we’re making stuff together.” Because you know, that made it so much less of a date.

“I don’t think he’ll care if I’m going to the shower,” Guy teased, before laughing and making kissy noises into the phone. “See you in five.”