Apéritif [ Carmy Berzatto || THE BEAR FF ]

Chapter 12

It went from a weekly thing, to a every other day thing and you honestly couldn't complain. You liked the attention Carmy gave you and the fact he was attracted to you alone was enough to send you head over heels for him. You found yourself sleeping over more often and leaving little things at his place. Toothbrushes, extra shirts because a majority of his shirts weren't long enough to cover your bottom, but Carmy liked it nonetheless.

He enjoyed cooking for you. But you couldn't help but think that was all he did for you. Not the cooking part in itself. But him just inviting you over to his place. It felt lazy. Well Adina felt it was lazy, and tried to give you 1 on 1 advice which honestly just felt more like convincing. He never took you out on a proper date, or given you an excuse to get pretty and done up but you did it regardless. Just so you can hear "you look so beautiful" anytime he opened the worn down metal door of his apartment.

Trying to catch Carmy at the restaurant on your days off or after work became like a tricky game. He was always knee-deep in kitchen chaos or had to bail out of your chats with a quick "gotta handle stuff" excuse. Sure, he's a chef, and you get it, but that didn't make it any less frustrating.

This weird in-between stage was driving you nuts. It's only been a few weeks, but it feels like forever. You can't shake the feeling that if someone asked Carmy what he thought about you beyond a hookup or a bed-warmer , he'd draw a blank.

_______

"Can I come over to the restaurant today?" you asked, cozily tucked under Carmy's bed covers. You'd brought your own blankets from home because, let's face it, Carmy's idea of bedding resembled a napkin – not exactly cozy when you found yourself freezing halfway through the night.

"Sure." He was putting on his pants with his back facing you. "It's either going to be super boring or super hectic." He finally pulled his pants up and sat down on the edge of the bed to put on his sneakers.

"Inspection day today," Carmy sighed, a weight of responsibility in his tone. "Gotta ride everyone's back to make sure we don't get shut the fuck down." He leaned over, leaving a sweet peck on the top of your head before heading out, leaving you nestled alone in the bed.

"Wait, when will you be back?" You called out before he could disappear around the corner.

"I'll be home late, try to get some rest at your place Y/n." He was right you did need the rest, in your own bed. As nice as the nights you shared with Carmy were, you missed the comfort of your own bed and you weren't sure how much more of Carmy's thin mattress you could take.

"Okay." You got up right after him not wasting any time. Got dressed, grabbed your large tote bag that you had been using as an overnight bag and made your way out of his bedroom. He stood in the kitchen , scarfing down a single piece of toast and a cup of orange juice.

"You're leaving?" he mumbled through a mouthful of bread.

"Yeah, you just told me to?"

"I didn't tell you to, and I thought you were gonna leave after me." His brows knit together.

"Adina is waiting for me, I think she misses me." You joked trying to ease the tension in the air.

Meanwhile, Adina totally forgot you were at Carmy's place.

He stared at you intently, like he was trying to read you. You never left without a fight. It was always "a few more minutes please" or "one more round". But this time you had one foot out the door before him and quite frankly, he was shocked.

"Oh well, I'll text you?" He gulped.

You nodded with a soft smile before unlocking the door and making your way out into the corridor. You couldn't help but feel this emptying feeling in the pit of your stomach.

You shut the door behind you before making your way down the corridor and down the stairs.

The stairs creaked loudly at the floor beneath you. Carmy did live on the third floor of his apartment which was the top floor, but you never bumped into his neighbors. To be frank, you forgot other people had lived in the building. The creaking got louder as you made you're way down the staircase and it felt like the footsteps were meeting you.

Around the bend of the second-floor staircase, was a girl— well, a young woman. She looked like she was around your age. Her smooth dark brown hair, that was pushed back with a pair of sunglasses, cascaded over her shoulders as she walked up the steps. She lifted her head up to face you before smiling.

"Sorrryy," she murmured sweetly, kindly making room for you to walk down.

"Thank you," you beamed in response, reaching the bottom of the stairs. The subtle click of her boots echoed into the next floor, making you wonder as to why you haven't noticed her before.