There was a moment of silence before Alfred started chuckling. He laughed quietly while Melanie and Jacob looked at each other in slight confusion. This continued for several minutes, then Alfred finally spoke.

“Oh, good one. Yeah, man, that’s a good joke. Seriously though, I’m alright with sleeping on the couch if that doesn’t bother you.” He said, wiping a small tear from his eye from his laughing session.

“I’m being serious, you’ll be sleeping in my room.” Melanie said, her face looking like she was wondering if he actually had an issue with her. “Do you not want to be near me?”

Alfred paused, reconfigured his thoughts and shook his head. “It’s not that, just… won’t it be kinda weird? You know, having a guy sleep in your room?”

Melanie smiled sweetly and winked. “Only if you’re planning something. You wouldn’t do something naughty to me, would you?”

Alfred’s face went bright red almost instantly, then Jacob intervened. “Alright Mel, stop teasing him like that.” Then he directed his attention to Alfred. “I personally don’t have an issue with those sleeping arrangements, just promise you won’t do anything you don’t think I would appreciate.”

“Yes sir, I would never dream of it.” Alfred said quickly. He could still feel his face burning red, but the heat was gradually going down.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

After the talk, Melanie took Alfred to her room to arrange his belongings. “So, what are you thinking about sleeping? I don’t mind if you sleep next to me in the bed, it’s big enough for the both of us.” She asked with a sweet smile.

Feeling his face redden again, Alfred managed to stutter, “Well, uh… a-are you… you sure? I mean… I’m not against it. No, wait… that sounds weird.”

Melanie laughed lightly and shook her head. “Nah, it’s not weird. I offered, so it’s not weird. But seriously though, the floor’s not comfortable, so would you want to sleep in the bed with me?”

Alfred sat in silence for a moment, then slowly said, “Yeah, I guess it would be better than the floor… thanks.”

Melanie smiled again. “Alright then. Say, do you like games? More specifically, Poker? Cause I love Poker, and I feel like you do too.”

Alfred started having memories flash through his mind. A single uncle on his father’s side who was like him. Died of cancer long ago, but he was different. He didn’t find satisfaction in material things. He dated a girl who worked in a tattoo parlor, worked himself as a bartender, didn’t make much money compared to the rest of the family.

The uncle, Hector was his name, made his own life. He left the family and went off on his own to lead his own life. He only showed his face around the family during reunions. Alfred met him at the yearly family reunion four years ago, where Hector taught him how to play Poker and Blackjack.

Hector and Alfred hit it off well, and stayed close for the next two years, until about five months ago, Hector was diagnosed with bone cancer, and ended up dying.

Hector’s death weighed heavily on Alfred, and he felt alone in the family, the feeling of isolation in his home had returned.

Now that Alfred thought about it, Melanie’s dad, Jacob, was rather similar to Hector. His friendly demeanor, fatherly nature, and a shine in his eye that made you think he was always thinking about pulling a small prank.

“It’s been a while since I’ve played Poker, but yeah, I’d love to play.” Alfred said, making Melanie grin as she grabbed a deck of cards.