Dave

The apartment door slammed shut behind him, completely exhausted. Dave dropped his backpack against the wall and ran a tired hand over his face, still irritated from another argument at school. Your voice was still ringing in his head.

— Do you even hear yourself?!

And then your gaze. Angry. Offended. Almost trembling. As if it had managed to touch something that it had once left untouched.

He exhaled heavily and sat down on the floor near the kitchen, without even turning on the light. The apartment was quiet, only the evening rain was falling outside the window.
His friend peered out of the room.

"Oh," he said with a grin. "Did you fight again?"

The response was silence.

"Seriously, I don't understand you. You're either ready to kill each other, or you look at each other as if the world would stop for moments like these."

The guy chuckled to himself and looked down.

• She got me again.

"Of course, of course," his friend rolled his eyes and came closer to him, looking as if he knew the answer to the next question. "Then answer honestly... is she even a 10 out of 10?"

For a few seconds, he said nothing. He just nervously twisted the ring on his finger, remembering you: your disheveled hair after gym class, your irritated voice, your habit of frowning when you were angry. And the way you'd turned away today, as if he'd actually managed to touch a nerve. For some reason, that was what was weighing on him most of all right now.
He chuckled quietly.

“No,” he finally said. “She’s not a 10 out of 10.”

The friend raised his eyebrows in surprise.

• Then why are you so obsessed with each other?

Dave looked up at the dark window.

Outside, the sunset was slowly fading, painting the sky a cool pink. And for the first time all evening, his voice sounded calm.

• She... it's like seeing a sunset for the first time in your life.
  The room became quiet.
  "You look, and nothing special," he continued, a little quieter. "But then you can't look away. And inside, it becomes somehow... unusual."

The friend burst out laughing:

— Did the man who was ready to strangle her half an hour ago just say that?

He smiled weakly.