Tempting /A Jordan Knight fanfic ✔️

24

Chapter 24: Moving Day

"Where do you want these boxes?"

"Uh, you can just set them in the kitchen area."

Mel nodded, blowing a strand of dark hair out of her eyes as she heaved the box up in her arms, heading off toward my new kitchen.

My very tiny new kitchen.

"Thank you guys for helping again. You really didn't have to take off work to help me move."

"Eh, I needed a day off anyway." Mel brushed off my gratefulness while setting the box full of my minimal kitchen supplies on the floor. "This last week has been non-stop meetings and depositions and wedding planning. Plus, I wouldn't want to miss today for you. It's a big day!"

"It's not that big," I laughed. "It's not like it's my first apartment."

"But it is your first apartment by yourself and that's big."

Mel's reminder that this was my first time living alone was bittersweet. Someone's first time being on their own should be fun and exciting, and in some ways it was.

Mostly it was nerve-wracking and padded with guilt over the reasoning I decided I had to live alone.

"So, what do you think of it? I know it's not much but..."

Steering my gaze around the barren apartment I'd call home for the next seven months, any sentiments of blind positivity failed on my tongue. The place wasn't anything great. It was small, and I had to pretend I couldn't see the stains on the living room walls. The carpet beneath my feet felt like a softer version of velcro, and the tile lining the kitchen was chipped in more places than not.

Thanks to the vanilla scented candles I lit before we started moving my stuff in, the smell of smoke wasn't so bad anymore. It wasn't a palace, but it also wasn't Mel's place, and that was the selling point for me that mattered.

"It's, uh..." Mel turned her stare to each corner of the room, struggling for something nice to say. "It's got charm."

Busting through the front door like he'd hoped he could knock it off its hinges, Jordan chimed in, "It's got mold."

Jordan wasn't even attempting to mask the disgust in his voice or on his face as he walked in carrying two cardboard boxes stacked on top of each other. With his arrival, the apartment seemed to shrink into itself with the glowering energy he brought with him.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Mel give Jordan a scolding glare and in that same second, I saw Jordan shrug her off.

Oof.

"I like it," I said, feeling defensive over my new apartment.

Without meeting my stare, Jordan grumbled, "I don't know why you won't just stay with us until you find something nicer."

"Because she's an adult who can make her own decisions. Lay off, babe."

I spared Mel a grateful smile that only lasted for half a second before Jordan's next words wiped it clean off my face.

"Well, this is a bad decision."

And with that, he trudged out the front door and down to the moving truck. As soon as he left, he pulled the blanket of doom and gloom that he'd laid over the room away with him, and the whole apartment sucked in a deep breath, finally able to breathe.

"I'm so sorry—"

"No, no it's okay," I cut Mel off, waving my hand in front of me. "He's just being overly cautious is all."