Roommates, apparently (GxG)

Chapter 18 - "A real date"

꧁•⊹٭𝙹𝚎𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚏𝚎𝚛٭⊹•꧂

"James! How's it hangin' broskie? Ali is here, you're on speaker!" I beam as I answer the call from my older brother, putting it on speakerphone so that Alissa can join the conversation too.

For the past while I haven't really heard from either him or Belle, apart from the odd meme being sent to the 'family' (Belle, me, James and recently Alissa) group chat, so the phone call caught me off guard, but excited me none the less. I've spent pretty much every second of my free time pestering Alissa recently, thanks to Belles absence from my DMs, but honestly.. I don't think Alissa minds the extra attention from me.

Obviously I've still been worried about my brother and my pregnant best friend, especially when they've been abnormally absent ever since James told my parents that he won't be working for them anymore, but I always take the silence as good news - because if there was any bad news, I know that they'd tell me immediately. Space is something that everyone in my family values and appreciates the most when things get stressful, we were raised to learn and deal with things alone, so I haven't bothered really reaching out to either of them.

"Hey, guys! Well Jenny, as you already know, I told our loving parents to go fuck themselves and they cut me off. I'm a little bit screwed for a job right now, thanks to the wheelchair situation, and Belle doesn't really earn much because she's working on her own, you know?..." He begins, hesitantly beating around the bush about what I already think hes going to ask "Can we borr-"

"Don't worry about it. How much?" I cut him off, agreeing without a second thought.

"Oh- uh, thank you! I was ready to grovel and everything... you know that I wouldn't ask if we weren't really struggling, right?" He states gratefully, but evidently still embarrassed by having to ask his younger sister for financial help "Anything would be great, really Jenny. Fifty, eighty, I don't care. I'll get it back to you ASAP, I promise"

"Has Belle got all of the prenatal Vitamins on the list that I gave you guys? Appointments and everything are all booked?" I ask him, already opening my mobile banking app to transfer him some funds.

"Most of 'em! We're waiting to book a couple of the appointments next week, when her pay-check hits, but we've got all of the vitamins except one"

I type the amount that I want to send him into the little white box - 300 - clicking send after scanning my fingerprint and typing out the annoying secondary pin when the scan fails. I hear his phone buzz through the speakers static, notifying me that it has reached his account successfully.

"Don't worry about paying me back, just focus on you guys for now. We'll sort it out when you guys are more stable if you really have an problem with not giving me it"

Alissa eyes me with a soft smile and a warm look that I couldn't read, but whatever it is, I like it. She rubs my arm and walks away to distract herself and give us some privacy.

"Jen- What the fuck!? I said like fifty or something, not three hundred!" James yells through the phone in disbelief "I-I can't promise that I can give you all of that back anytime soon, but I will pay it back! Are you sure, kiddo?"

"James, our parents cut you off, not me!" I explain simply with a chuckle "You don't owe me anything, I mean it. Unless you really wanna argue about it. I've got some money saved away in a separate account from over the years anyway, I don't spend a lot of what they give me! Go out, get some shit for the baby or book the appointments, and try to find the last of Belles Vitamins. If you need more in the end, to get food or anything else you guys need, just let me know"

"Thank you... I love you so much, Jennifer. I really don't think I tell you that enough sometimes"

"Okay, okay. Shut up..." I laugh, glancing over to Alissa who's also chuckling silently from across the room, dawning a cute little pout at my brothers show of affection "I love you too, James. So, what are the plans for today then?"