During college I had a pretty busy life. I would get up and be at the school between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. every morning. I would usually be done with classes between 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. After that I would often go over to the restaurant where I worked and work till it closed at midnight or so. Then I would go home and start my homework and work till I was too tired or finished it. The next day would be a repeat.
On some days I wouldn't have to work so these were the days that I would spend time with my friends, family, boyfriend or try to do my homework at a reasonable time. Needless to say I didn't get a lot of sleep and some of my social life was lacking.
One area that could have been a little better was with my boyfriend. We had been dating for a while and were also friends but it had been tough as of recently. He was working long hours and so was I so the time we often spent together was napping next to each other. It caused one or two fights since it seemed the nights he was awake I wasn't and the nights I was awake he wasn't. Not only that but he worked with some women he seemed to be getting close with and I worked with some men I was getting close with.
To add to the tension my brother's friend moved in with us at this point as well. He had been living with his family but they had a huge fight and it ended with him moving out. He had no money saved up so he needed a place to stay. Him and my brother had been long time friends and he and our parents got along so he moved into our basement. I had no problems with Matt and got along with him but him and my boyfriend had butted heads a couple of times. So when we already are having some tension telling him I'm going home to where a guy he doesn't care for is also living was like pouring gas on the fire.
Life continued on and my boyfriend and me had some good nights and some not so good nights. By now I was used to coming home and being the only one awake but more and more I noticed Matt was in his bedroom on his computer or watching TV. We would say hello and ask how the other's day was and then go about our own business. I guess he had gotten a night job so he was awake most nights.
One night our little passing hall banter changed though. My boyfriend and I had just had a fight and since I was tired I ended the fight by just going home. I didn't have the energy to argue with him that night. When I got home Matt was in his room watching TV and asked how my day had been. Normally some small talk and I would have been on my way but for some reason I just unloaded on him. I told him about our fights and how bad my boyfriend was pissing me off. I gave details and basically just vented to him. Surprisingly in return he began venting to me as well about his girlfriend. Apparently they were having scheduling conflicts as well and she doubted the direction his life was heading in. With this it became our new thing to vent to each other when I would come home. We would sit in his room and talk for about an hour or so.
One night it reached a boiling point. I finished work late and went to see my boyfriend. I was tired and got to his place to find him working on his truck with my brother and another friend. They were talking about cars and trucks and I was exhausted. I decided instead to fall asleep on his couch.
I'd say about an hour later my boyfriend woke me up and told me to go home since I was exhausted. They were still trying to fix his truck and it was going to be a while. I got my stuff and headed home.
I was surprised as I drove home how much the little cat nap had revitalized me. It was a good night to do homework. As I walked to my room I saw Matt just sitting in the chair in his room spinning circles. I asked if he was okay and he said no. I went in and sat down and he told me how he had just broken up with his girlfriend.
I hadn't noticed my brother and my boyfriend had come over to our house to borrow a tool from my father's garage. I was sitting in Matt's room talking with him when the door opened and my boyfriend was staring at us. He didn't say anything and he didn't have to as he walked out because I could tell he was pissed. I left and proceed to get into an hour long fight with my boyfriend about how I fell asleep at his place but had enough energy to come home and talk to Matt. I tried to explain the cat nap and how I had been bored by talking about trucks and how Matt had just been venting to me.
In the end we made up but it seemed like something had changed between us. I found out what that was a couple of days later when I fell asleep again at his place and he suggested I go home and talk with Matt to wake up. It became his new thing when we would fight and it pissed me off so much I couldn't even begin to explain it.
Now when I went home and talked with Matt I felt as if I was doing something wrong and I wasn't. Not only that but I couldn't really vent about what my boyfriend was doing that was pissing me off because God knows how that would turn out.