10.11

Fortunately, nothing even remotely exciting happened after that. As it was, the standard-issue hubbub was far more than enough, and Rodney found himself hyperventilating into his puffed cheeks. One of these days, he was sure, the stress and unholy fear he felt about reaching out would fade. He was sure that with enough practice, he could finally just say the words "Sasha, I like you. We should go out—how about this weekend? Coffee?" Anyway, he'd keep practicing in the mirror and praying for Mason and Frank to move away just in case they liked her too. And one of these days, something exciting would happen, and perhaps his heart would just fail utterly and he could finally sleep without dreaming of her.