James POV
"Why do you guys even have this?" Adam yells from the bathroom.
"It's James's!" Daniel calls. I quickly tackle him, face red.
"He's lying!" I shout over the two's laughter.
After a few minutes, Daniel and I have (mostly) stopped fighting, and the bathroom door remains closed.
"You don't have to if you really don't want to." Dan tells him.
There is a sigh, then a click. I watch as the bathroom door opens.
Adam awkwardly steps out, his red face facing away. His arms are crossed, and his foot taps impatiently. And, of course, you can't forget the fact that he's wearing a bright pink miniskirt.
Literally. It's impossible to miss.
I hear Noah snicker at me and I realize that I'm starting to drool.
My ears heat up as I wipe the drool off my face.
Thankfully, Adam is still looking away, or else I'd die of embarrassment.
After a little while, we get settled and turn on some show as background noise. However, Daniel and I aren't watching the show. Instead, we are watching Adam. I find my eyes drifting back to him every few minutes, noticing little things like how he picks his lips every once in a while, and the way he cuddles the pillow next to him.
Damn, I have fallen for this boy.
Daniel POV
I watch as Adam falls asleep, his eyelids slowly drifting shut.
I reluctantly leave to get him one of my blankets, not wanting to take my eyes off him for a second. I quickly grab the softest one, then quickly return to the living room, glad to see that nothing seems to have changed while I was gone.
I carefully cover him with the blanket, feeling pleased as he smiles and pulls it closer. I start to take my hand away, but he sleepily grabs my arm, holding it close. I smile softly, taking his face in my hand and gently rubbing his cheek with my thumb.
I slowly pull my hand away, and James gets up to head to bed.
"Goodnight." I whisper, heading to my room.
As I walk down the hallway, I spot James kiss his forehead out of the corner of my eye. I chuckle, heading to bed.
- The Next Morning -
Adam POV
I awake from a wonderful, dreamless sleep, keeping my tired eyes closed. I feel a warm blanket over me, and smile a little.
I can hear talking from somewhere ahead of me, and peek my eyes open a bit to see who it is.
I see the three boys sitting at the counter, talking to each other and laughing. They all look perfectly content.
This makes me remember something important.
I'm not supposed to be here.
Ugh, I need to find a new apartment. There's no way I could afford our - er, my - current one with just my pay. Martin has always had a high-up job in his family's company, which is why we could afford such a nice apartment.
Martin. Where is he now? Jail? I sure hope so. A shiver runs down my spine, and I shove his face out of my mind. Stay on topic.
I need to find a new apartment. And probably a second job as well. It's not like I can leech off these three forever.
My job.
Oh no, what day is it? I've missed so much work. I'm gonna have to clock in so many extra hours. Oh god, Martin's gonna kill me-
Oh yeah.
Martin's gone.
Weird.
I can't remember what life is like without him. Without the comfort or fear of always having having him nearby. Without the pain. I've never even lived alone.
I need to stop this train of thought before I start crying for no good reason like an idiot.
I slowly stretch, pretending I just woke up.
"Morning, sleepyhead."
I recognize Noah's voice and rub my eyes.
"What time is it?" I ask groggily.
He laughs. "Eight thirty."
I groan, slowly sitting up. I would normally be awake by now.
Actually, I'm normally up at two a.m. screaming. Then, if I could walk after the most recent beating, I'd go to the kitchen and make myself a bowl of cereal, vainly hoping I hadn't woken up Martin.
"Want something to eat?" James asks me from the counter.
"Yeah, that'd be nice." I say, standing up and yawning.
I realize that Noah is staring at me.
"What?" I ask, looking myself up and down to see what he's staring for.
That's when I remember I'm wearing a miniskirt.
James also realizes what's going on and bursts into laughter.
"It was a dare, horndog." Daniel says with a laugh, giving Noah a little shove.
Noah rolls his eyes, 'gently' shoving Daniel off his stool and onto the floor.
"Ouch! Hey!"
I chuckle, taking his seat. James sets a plate of steaming hot pancakes down in front of me and takes the remaining seat right as Daniel was about to sit there.
He crosses his arms with a huff. "Now where am I supposed to sit?"
I'm about to get up and give him his seat back when I feel myself being lifted off of the stool. Before I can even comprehend what's happening, I'm sitting on Noah's lap.
"There. Happy?" He says as I sputter, face on fire.
"No fair!" Daniel whines, sitting down and moving my plate in front of me. James just stares.
They all begin to eat, and after a minute I take a bite as well.
It tastes amazing. I'm tempted to scarf it all down as fast as I can, but continue taking slow, careful bites.
I've never really had an eating problem, excluding the times I tried to starve myself to death. Still, I always try not to eat too much or else I'll feel fat and disgusting the rest of the day.
Well, perhaps I do have a tiny eating problem.
It's fine, though.
I finish, making sure to leave a few bites. Noah picks me up so he can stand, then sets me back down on the cold chair.
"You done?" He asks me, and I nod.
He ruffles my hair, then goes to wash our dishes.
I reach for my pocket, only to realize that:
1. I'm wearing a skirt.
2. My phone wouldn't be there anyway, it's at my apartment.
I mentally facepalm.
Guess it's time to go home.
- Ten Minutes Later -
Noah POV
We arrive at the apartment building. All three of us insisted on going, even though the trip would have been fine with just one. That one being me, of course.
We've been talking about Adam's living situation on the way here, and he apparently was thinking about needing a roommate for, y'know, rent and stuff. Which is understandable.
We would know. After all, we live together not only because we're lovers, but also because none of us would be able to afford an apartment if we weren't splitting the bills.
"Guys, it's fine. I don't want to feel like I'm just leeching off you." Adam insists.
"You wouldn't be, I promise. We could clean out the extra room for you to stay in, at least until you find somewhere else." I tell him.
He sighs. "I'll think about it."
I feel a smile tug at my lips. It would be nice having him around.
We enter the building and head up to the fourth floor. I shudder as Adam opens the door, remembering the last time we were here.
Adam's demeanor noticably changes as we enter the living room. His posture lowers, and the bags under his eyes almost look darker. His entire face just looks tired and worn.
I notice quite a few red stains on the pale carpet, and know deep down in soul that it was more than a ketchup bottle exploding.
We walk up to two doors. Adam opens one, which I assume to be his room, and walks in. Him and James are talking about sushi, while me and Dan are simply observing our surroundings.
His room is messy, with a closet at the end across from his bed. There is an open door across from the foot of his bed, leading to a Jack and Jill bathroom. I assume the other door in it leads to his boyfriend's room.
"You two didn't share a room?" James asks curiously.
Adam pulls his phone out of the bedside table, typing in the code with a bord look on his face. "No point. I'd just wake him up with my nightmares. Sharing a bed would be pretty idiotic too, since it's not like I'd ever let him touch me."
James gives a quiet nod, though I can tell he wants to ask more. So do I.
I notice Adam's eyebrows scrunch up.
"Guys, what day is it?" He asks quizzically.
"Thursday." I promptly answer, glad to get out of that awkward conversation.
"Fuck, I am in deep shit with my boss." He groans.
I chuckle. "I'm sure they'll understand."
He groans. "I know. He'll be all like, 'I'm so glad you finally got rid of that piece of shit.' and then never let me live it down. Plus, I'm gonna have to work so much overtime." He complains, moving so he is sitting upsidedown on his bed, legs against the wall and head hanging off the edge.
We continue chatting, us three eventually heading home. We end up getting takeout, because I'm too distracted thinking of Adam and burn the food.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Sorry for the late update. I lost motivation and procrastinated by working on a bunch of old projects I've basically abandoned at this point. TwT
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