Roomies {Harringrove}

Day Six

True to his word, Billy did make them breakfast the next day. He'd gotten shaken up by his nightmares and figured he might as well get up instead of sleeping and be productive. So he whipped up a salad, grating through carrots, cabbage and cucumber. He sliced some bacon and sausage on the side to add and then he waited, trying to keep his mind off the past as best he could.

Eventually the door went up and Billy watched as Steve sluggishly dragged himself into the kitchen, amused at just how messy his hair was when he hadn't taken care of it, yet. He looked like a disgruntled kitten, honestly. He rubbed his eyes, letting out an ungodly yawn that made Billy laugh quietly to himself. Not quietly enough, though, because Steve's eyes instantly darted to him.

"Oh. Billy, hey...!" He moved closer and pat Billy's hair, getting lost in the layers and tugging gently at his curls with reckless abandon. Billy's darker side instantly urged him to shove the boy back but he was too enraptured by Steve's adorable musings to listen. Besides, it felt kind of nice. His mother used to play with his hair every night before he went to sleep and no one had dared touch his hair since her, except his father when he wanted to hurt him. With that thought in mind, Billy frowned slightly and took Steve's hand out of his mullet.

"Oh. Sorry, bud, I wasn't... Yeah." He blushed and fidgeted with his fingers a bit. He seemed a little more awake, now and cautious as a result. Billy kind of regretted making him stop, now but it was too late for that. "Why are you up, anyway, Billy? You're never up before me."

"I just happened to wake up early today. Figured I might as well do something with my time. Besides, we made a deal yesterday, didn't we?" Steve blinked at him and the blonde chuckled. He really was the biggest idiot ever. "Remember? You said I should make breakfast today. So I did."

"Wh- did I? I'm sorry, damn, I guess I get demanding when I'm half-asleep. I don't remember but you really didn't have t-"

"Shut up, Harrington. We should share this task, really. Maybe... We alternate by day?" Steve stared at him, his brows furrowed. It was still weird having Billy be kind. But he was proud of him for it, a smile breaking out on his face.

"Ugh. Okay. I'll wait a whole day to have your food, again. Sounds like torture. But I'll live."

"I'm not that goo-"

"Shut up, you're a god at it."

"Damn I usually hear that about much less mundane things." It took Steve a second but once it clicked, his face flushed again. Billy was definitely enjoying pushing his buttons, watching Steve go quiet with that shocked expression still on his face, shoving the sandwich in his mouth. He let out a moan and Billy looked down, scratching the back of his neck. "Thank you, though. You're pretty much the first person to taste my cooking and know I'm the one that did it since I was a kid so... Good to know my skills are up-to-par."

"You should be a professional. You can work at the mall, even! There's tons of burger joints and stuff, maybe even a fancy restaurant that would take ya- oh. Right. The mall's done, now. Fuck I didn't even think of that. I'm out of a job. And so is Robin. Shit. My parents..." he sucked in a breath, covering his face as he quietly mulled over things. Billy wasn't sure what to do, just silently watching him panic. "Fuck. Great job, Harrington. You get a job and it was bad enough it was one like that but in the one place that ended up shutting down? Really? At least it was a job. Now you're unemployed. What will they think of y-"

"Hey. Relax, okay? You can worry about all that when you get out of here. See this place as a... Break. From all that real life shit. I know there's no devices but there's a lot of books around. Just get your mind off it." Billy slipped his hand off Steve's shoulder once the smaller man glanced at it, shoving both into the pockets of his shorts.