Redheaded Kid Becomes Redheaded Best Friend

Last time, I told you how Handsome Husband (long before he was Handsome Husband - when we he was just Smart-Ass Redheaded Kid) reappeared in my life after having been MIA for quite some time.

After I broke up with Control Freak, I couldn't get that Smart-Ass Redheaded Kid out of my head.  Why had he come to visit me a few months ago?  What exactly did he want?  Why did he even think of me randomly?  After a week or two of internal debate, I finally bit the bullet at called Redhead.  I told him about how I broke up with Control Freak, and how much of a mess that was.

He was still in living in San Diego at the time, while I was home in Suburban Paradise Orange County.  I was, however, gearing to move to Los Angeles for the summer for an internship I had landed.  He told me he was going to be in the area for the weekend, and did I want to get together.  We decided to meet for coffee.

When that day came, I wasn't sure why I was so nervous.  It wasn't like I had a crush on the kid, it was just Smart-Ass Redheaded Kid, who I had pined over for years...but that was a long time ago.  I dressed to the nines, with the idea to tell him I was going out later (don't you love game playing for no reason?).

We met, and I think I laughed for the entire coffee date (which was not a date date, just two folks meeting for a cup of joe!).  Redheaded Kid was so funny, and the conversation never hit a lull.

Smart-Ass told me how he was going to be moving home soon for the summer, and he bragged about his big plans for traveling Europe over the break from school.

I left Starbucks smiling, but I truly never ever thought we would be anything but friends.  While a little flirtatious, I didn't get the impression Redheaded Kid wanted anything but a friendship either.  But what certainly came out of the coffee date (again - not a date date) was a blooming friendship - soon I was calling Redhead weekly, then a couple times a week, and texts became almost an hourly event.  I quickly got attached, and wanted to know what he thought about everything.  He went from being someone I hadn't spoken to in years to someone I could barely get through the day without checking in with.  It was fun to have a best friend that was a guy, and Redhead was (and is!) so funny that it was hard not to want to talk to him!

The final month of school went by and soon Smart-Ass was moving home, and I was moving away.  I had met a guy that I started seeing, and Redhead had quickly gone from best friend to relationship advisor.  I would see Redhead a few times before he left for Europe, but our friendship was mostly via phone.

(Redheaded Kid and I circa Summer of 2008)

Next time - Redhead goes to Europe, and somehow still manages to be an attentive best friend from thousands of miles away.

Want to catch up on the story of how my Handsome Husband became my Handsome Husband?  Find out how we met, what it was like going to high school with HH, and how he reappeared in my life after moving down to San Diego for college.