Unwanted Roommate (HIATUS)

Chapter 5

"A library is an island in the middle of vast sea of ignorance, particularly if the library is very tall and the surrounding area has been flooded." It's a place to get away from the buzzing hurry everywhere else on campus. And on this average Friday evening, it is exactly where (Y/N) wishes to spend her time. Mostly because she has a lot of tests coming up and it's easier to study here than in her dorm where there are multitudes of distractions. But even here, with her stack of textbooks nearby, the sophomore is overwhelmed. She knew college was gonna be hard, but goddamn where do these professors get off? It's not even finals week and it's just test after test after essay after test.

It's enough to make anyone drop out.

But every time, (Y/N) argues internally that she can't simply drop out because she's put a lot of money into this degree already. And every time, she convinces herself that dropping out and paying the 20 something thousand she already owes is better than staying, racking up more debt, and chiseling away at her mental health.

Nice classes and chill professors are cool, but panic attacks are not. Her friends are fun to hang with, but she has their numbers and can make plans to hang whenever. Her grades are sitting at a chill 2.5 GPA, but it's getting harder and harder to see the point of good grades. What is the point of this? And for an English degree, there is no point really.

A buzzing pulls her from her spiraling and she knows she should ignore it to continue studying but her brain is at capacity. A distraction is earned. She glances at the sender. It's Murdoc. He's found her Instagram and sent a DM. A simple message, just a short "hungry??" with an eggplant emoji. (Y/N) rolls her eyes at the emoji, thinking he probably clicked the wrong one or is just messing with her.

She replies with, "ya but I need to study". Three little dots appear immediately and he responds.

"U @ libaree?"

(Y/N) stifles her laughter behind her hand before texting back. "Are you unable to spell library?"

"Shut it. R u or not?"

"Ya near the back, you planning on joining?" It's her best attempt at teasing, but when he doesn't answer back immediately she starts to regret. Some time passes and she stays locked on her phone, each second digging the regret deeper and deeper until she begins to debate just deleting the dumb message. Her self-loathing is interrupted by a bag being dropped right next to her. She bites back a yell and glares up at whoever did that. Murdoc.

"There you are. Damn you really meant the back didn't you?" He looks around at her little secret spot tucked between the ends of two aisles where a lone wall plug works away at keeping her phone alive. He chuckles and slides down the wall to sit next to her then opens his bag, pulling out some vending machine snacks.

"We are not allowed to eat in here!" She whisper yells and pushes the food back towards his bag.

Murdoc raises a brow at her, making her shiver some how. "You really have an issue with saying 'thank you', don't ya?" He holds out her favourite snack.

She's about to ask how he knows it's her favourite, but she stops herself. "Thanks."

He smiles, a kind of genuine smile (Y/N) believes only she gets to see. "There you go, dove, and you're welcome." He gives an exaggerated half bow, looking awkward while he sits, then pulls a bag of chips to devour them.

The pair sits far in the back of the library, so there's not much pressure to keep noise at an absolute minimum. (Y/N) feels a blush growing along her face, though she's not exactly sure why, and she chooses to focus on eating instead of thinking about that. In that moment, she wonders if he remembers what happened at the center. Because she does. And she liked it more than she thought she would. Her head tilts towards his shoulder. He doesn't stop her, or doesn't notice, so she fully rests her head there and tucks it under his chin. He doesn't say anything, but he also doesn't put his head on hers like last time.

The urge to move away twists within her but before she can he asks a question. "Whatcha studying for anyway?" His free hand lifts one of the open books and his eyes move back and forth to skim the words.

"It's just some books for a quiz. Historical fiction, so it's not so bad. Gets boring after a while."

"That?" Murdoc jabs a thumb in the direction of her philosophy book at the bottom of the pile.

(Y/N) groans and shifts closer to him, she thinks his muscles tense at the movement. "I have to write a nine page essay on that. So not excited."

"Clearly." Murdoc snorts and she feels him relax again. "Philosophy's a bitch. I remember when I took it."

"You took it? Are you serious?"

"That so hard to believe? That's pretty rude, dove, don't think I'm smart enough for all that fancy thinking?" He takes hold of her chin and pulls her to meet his eyes. "Is that it?" He is clearly just trying to get a rise out of her, but she feels something else. Something different.

"What are you majoring in?" She asks, simultaneously dodging his question and trying to think straight.

"Music theory and comp, stuff like that." When she doesn't react to his advance, he starts to pull his hand away. But she leans into it and he goes still. "What're you playing at, dove?" A confused expression shadows his face as he looks over her.

"Whatever do you mean?" She gives him her full attention, turning her whole body to face his.

He can't handle that look in her eyes, a sort of concern mixed with curiosity. His heart spins with the frenzy of a broken record player. "Never fucking mind," it comes out with a chuckle to try and mask his frayed nerves, "you gotta study. Get in that." He places his hands on his knees, beginning to dig his nails into the jean fabric while looking straight ahead into the aisle of books.

"You'll stay?" She gets comfy against his side and he forces a short nod, giving her the impression he was done talking. (Y/N) doesn't mind though, he's not moving away so she picks up the philosophy book and starts annotating again.

It was like that for a few hours or so. She shift every now and then, trying to stay comfortable against Murdoc's side, whereas he would barely move at all. He stayed so still, (Y/N) thought he fell asleep, when really he feared any movement would cause her discomfort. But she was the one who would inevitably fall asleep, which he now had to deal with.

Why did he come here, he thinks. It's a silly endeavor that was a spontaneous act caused by his curiosity. He just wanted some food, now he has a sleeping young woman against his shoulder. He's just torturing himself at this point. But there's something about this girl, something he can't quite shake off like all his other flings. And he certainly doesn't want to shake her awake, but the library is closing. Murdoc sighs to himself and lays his jacket over her, inwardly debating just giving it to her at this point, then gathers all their things from the floor. With both bags on his shoulders and (Y/N) sleeping soundly in his arms, he starts off towards his apartment.

His roommate, Stuart, better not be there or so help him Satan.

It wasn't easy work but Murdoc managed to complete his mission. Stuart wasn't there, probably out doing lame shit, so Murdoc places (Y/N) on his own bed. Her bag goes by the closet and his bag gets thrown at the couch before he's grabbing a beer from his mini fridge. While he slugs the drink, he texts Stu to make sure he's not coming back at some inopportune time.

Stuart's out with a slag from strip, so says him but Murdoc doesn't really believe it, but at least that means he'll be out all night. Possibly the whole weekend if it is a chick occupying Stu's time. Which means (Y/N) can crash here for that time, and Murdoc certainly wouldn't complain about that.

His attention is brought back to (Y/N) when she turns in her sleep, subsequently pushing off the covers. Murdoc smiles to himself and tugs the blanket back over her. "I'm so fucked," he mumbles, still smiling like an idiot. "Satan. I am fucked." He gently brushes some stray hairs from her face before making his place on the sofa. Dark lord only knows what she would do to him if she woke up not just in his bed, but next to him in bed.

They both managed to get a well deserved rest on both sides. Each with a single question swimming round in their minds: Did that count as a date?