Something Awkward Part 3

**A bit short today, crazy busy week! But since I gave you two short ones, I promise a bonus next Saturday (11/15). Also, I see some of you have already noticed but I created a Team Dylan v Team Nick survey to the right! If you're reading this on mobile, just scroll to the bottom and hit "View Web Version", then you can see it. It runs through the next few days. Have a great weekend!** 

The rest of the wedding was uneventful, and Dylan and I were home and after some much-awaited sex, fast asleep by 1 a.m. 

When we woke up on Sunday, we lazily lounged around for a few hours while I dreaded getting back on a train to NYC. I ached to stay another night since him being in the wedding took away a lot of our time together, but I knew that I'd regret it when I had to wake up at the crack of dawn in order to get back to the city, changed and at work in time Monday morning.

"What time do we need to leave?" Dylan asked me, draping his arm across my stomach. It was almost 3 o'clock and we had yet to leave bed, aside from walking downstairs to make breakfast. 

"My train is at 4:30, so in about an hour," I said, nuzzling into the nook where his arm met shoulder. 

"Alright, I'm going to go shower then. I have to go to a dinner with the guys after I drop you off," he said, extracting himself from the tangle of limbs.

"Dinner with the guys?" I asked, watching with angst as he got out of the bed that had been our cocoon for almost 14 hours. 

"Yeah, we're doing a little post-wedding celebration thing, all the groomsmen and Ryan." 

"Shouldn't Ryan be with his new wife?" I asked, confused. 

I hated that there was still a part of me that didn't trust him when he said things like this.

Dylan shrugged. "I don't know, I think she's busy with some post-wedding errands or something. Ryan just mentioned he'd be alone his first night as a newlywed so we told him we'd grab dinner." 

"That's weird," I said, frowning. But to each their own I suppose. 

As Dylan left the room to shower, I started gathering up my stuff from his room. No matter how organized I tried to stay when visiting, my clothes always ended up all over his room. I was retrieving a tube of mascara that had somehow found it's way to his desk when I noticed a piece of paper with the address of Dylan's work's NYC office on the top. I pulled it out and scanned it, trying to sort through the legal jargon that made no sense to me. It looked like it was from when he had inquired about transferring back in September. As far as I could tell, the letter seemed to be offering him a position in New York in the next quarter. Which, since this was dated late September.. would be now. 

I was still holding the paper when Dylan walked back in his room, wearing nothing but a towel that had settled low on his waist. I ignored the piece of me that wanted to unwrap the towel and get down to business, knowing we had to talk about this.

Dylan looked at my face - which I'm sure portrayed how shocked I felt- then down to the paper, and back up to meet my gaze. 

"What is this?" I asked, confused. 

He took the paper from me and scanned it. "A work thing," he said, handing it back to me. 

"It says stuff about you transferring to New York," I said, frustrated with him. He had walked over to his closet and was sorting through a pile of jeans. 

"Yeah, I told you that I filed the request a few months ago," he said. 

"This looks like it says that you were granted that request, effective the fourth quarter.. isn't that now?" I said. 

He sighed and sat down on the bed, reaching his arms out for me. I didn't budge.

"Okay, about two weeks after I inquired they told me that it was possible... but the position they had was pretty much a demotion. Or if not a demotion, at least just a horizontal move."

"So you turned it down?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said. "A while ago... it just didn't seem like a smart career move."

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, trying to keep my voice even. 

"I didn't want you to be pissed at me for saying no," he said, shrugging. 

I rolled my eyes. "You've got to be kidding me. Dylan, of course I wouldn't want you to uproot your entire life to take a position that isn't what you want," I said, sitting down next to him. "How could you think I'd be mad?"

"I don't know," he said, nuzzling my neck.

"No, you can't change the subject," I said, pushing him off of me and standing back up. I waved the piece of paper in an attempt to get my point across. "You should have told me."

"I told you, I didn't even think about it. I wasn't going to take that job, why upset you?" 

I took a deep breath. Sometimes I wondered if his past relationship had been a lie, since he was clearly terrible at knowing how to be a boyfriend. 

"Just forget it," I said, dropping the paper on the floor and walking back over to my half-open bag. I settled down and continued to fold my clothes, my back to Dylan. I felt him come up behind me and kneel, his strong arms wrapping around me awkwardly.

"Look I'm still on their radar if something better comes up," he said, kissing my neck between words. I felt shivers run down my spine but I refused to give in. 

"I didn't ask you to move for me, this was all you. I don't know why you thought I would be upset." 

He turned me around, pulling me into his lap as he did so. We were perilously close to falling backwards. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to get your hopes up by mentioning it."

"Okay," I said, even though I still felt unsettled. When it came to Dylan, it always felt like there was a portion of the story I wasn't hearing. 

"Kara said something to me yesterday," I said. 

He looked puzzled by the change of conversation. "Kara?"

"At the wedding, she said how she didn't even think we were still together. I believe her exact words were 'cut the cord'." 

I felt him stiffen, and his face grew stern. "She's such a bitch," he said, mostly to himself. "Seriously, all she does is try to stir up trouble. She clearly wanted to get under your skin so she just says shit."

"I kind of got the same vibe, but still," I said. 

"Wait.. is that why you marched onto the dance floor yesterday and practically jumped my bones in front of hundreds of people?" he asked, a smile playing at the corners of his lips.

I smiled guiltily, "I was drunk and worked up from her comments," I said. 

He laughed, "You're ridiculous. You don't need to stake your claim on me, everyone knows that we're together." He used his hands to cup my face, lacing his fingers back through my hair. 

"It doesn't matter if they know, it just matters that Kara knows," I said, turning my mouth towards his hand. 

"Forget about Kara," he said, returning to the work he had been doing on my neck. I leaned my head back and tightened my grip around him, and suddenly forgetting about Kara was the easiest thing in the world.