Title: Late Night TV
How AU is this?: Harold and Cody are roommates
Summary: It's hard having a crush on someone that'll never think of you as anything more than a friend…if even that.
Rating: T

Harold and Cody sit on opposite ends of the loveseat in their apartment. It's late. Well, technically it's early. They had spent most of the night playing a newly released and purchased video game, becoming heroes among gods of another realm.

Now, the two twenty-four year olds lay lifeless in front of the TV, another episode of I Love Lucy starting.

Cody takes a sip from his empty wine cooler, managing to lap up the few droplets that remained in the red glass bottle. Harold yawns, trying to envision the shades of gray on the screen as color.

"Did you know that, even though the show mentions things being shot in color, colorized television wasn't popularized until sometime in the sixties and seventies," Harold states, the piece of trivia not really worth mentioning. On screen, Lucy makes a rather exaggerated expression that makes her looks absolutely pitiful. The audience laugh off screen. It causes Harold to smile.

"Leshawna likes when I tell her random facts. Most of the time…Sometimes I think it annoys her," Harold hears himself say, but he isn't sure why he reveals this piece of information. Cody picks up the remote. Harold didn't have the energy to stop his roommate from changing the channel.

"Gwen doesn't really like me when I doing anything," Cody dryly replies. The high from consuming mountains of sugary treats, and beating the game is completely gone now. His voice is dry and tired with sadness and uncharacteristic anger buried beneath it. Harold shrugs, unsure how to respond. The story of Cody and Gwen's romantic relationship has always been one sided. In truth, Harold didn't think the two were even friends. Though she was never mean to Cody, it was always pretty clear that Gwen just isn't interested.

But at least she's up front about it. At least she didn't kiss him, and made him think they were going to be a couple. Gwen didn't string him along with I love you's, only to take it back.

Harold sighs.

Cody's channel flipping comes to an end, settling on an episode of the old Charlie Angel's show. Cody always did have a thing for Farrah. He even has a vintage poster of her in his room.

Harold lets out another frustrated sigh, reaching for the bowl on the coffee table. He scoops up the few pieces of candy that somehow managed to escape Cody's sugar spree from their long night. The sound of birds chirping outside enters the room.

Harold and Leshawna are friends. They are protective of each other. They have fun together. They're rather silly and free with one another. She isn't afraid to open up to him. They are two very different people, but they enjoy each other's company nonetheless. Really, the only problem with their relationship is that Harold wants to be more than friends. And Leshawna simply…doesn't.

He's in love with her.

He couldn't bring himself to be angry or bitter towards her after she rejected him. At least, not completely. Not even when they made out and confessed love, and she bailed out on it the next day.

He can only think of one time when he was truly upset with her, and it had been after he found out she had lied to him. He can't even recall what the lie was, it had been so long ago…And she had easily won her good graces with him after an apology.

Still, being in the friend zone is rather annoying. It frustrated him to no end. His feelings weighing so heavily on his heart, it's a wonder how he's able to get through the day.

He glances over to his short, brunette friend. He had dozed off with his mouth open. Harold fills his own mouth with more candy, shrugging to himself. It's hard being in love with someone that'll never think of you as anything more than a friend…But at least he had that much.

For now, it's good enough for him.