wrong house

9. movie night.

Sarah crashed at Gabriel's. Nothing she'd usually do, but she figured it was better than to go home to a strained family. She had texted Santiago that she was sleeping over at Arya's because no matter how cool he was, he wouldn't want his little sister to sleep over at some guy's place.

The way his room was designed took her by surprise. Oscar's room was your stereotypical teenboy's room with clothes all over the floor, posters of games and girls and a stench that just wouldn't go away. Gabriel's on the other hand was light, clean and artistic. Every frame he had was well-placed on the walls and he had a corner of self-painted design. It smelled like paint but the good kind. She could cry over how organised it was.

He slept on the couch in the living room and let her have his bed, even though she tried to object. Sarah woke up with a smile when she remembered the previous night. After they got back from the carnival, they both ate something small and then fell asleep pretty quick.

Sarah sauntered down to the kitchen, wearing a huge t-shirt of his that covered her down to the knees. Gabriel smiled when she joined him and finished cooking the breakfast. When she heard what song he was listening to, her head leaned to the side and she licked her lips to suppress her smile.

"Desert Rose by Sting, really?" She laughed and sat down.

"What?" He shrugged carelessly and put everything on the table. "It's dedicated to you, babe. You're my sahara rose, Vazquez."

"Oh, for the love of God." She quickly dropped her head in her hands and shook it while he chuckled. "I can't deal with your cheesiness this early in the morning. You'll have to put it on pause for at least two hours."

"Two hours? Are you insane? I might actually explode. It's like telling Chandler Bing he can't make a joke for two hours. That's just not something you do." He put some of the scrambled eggs on his plate and then buttered a sandwich.

"Just be rude instead." She suggested and poured herself some orange juice. "Did you seriously make scrambled eggs?"

"Why not? When I eat breakfast, I'm eating big." He said without shame. She raised her eyebrows in amusement and started eating herself.

"People who make half-assed breakfasts are weak and boring." She agreed and rested her elbows against the table. "So do you actually like to cook?"

"Yeah, I love it." He nodded and took a sip from his juice. "I mean, since it's what I'm going to eat, I love to cook different and new things."

"That... makes a lot of sense." She softly smiled and finished eating.

"I know, I'm smart." He partly joked and leaned back in his seat. Rolling her eyes, she helped him clean up after them and did the dishes while he put everything back in the fridge and cleaned the table. "So when are you going home?"

Sarah momentarily froze in realization. At some point she had to go back home and face her dad. No matter how much she loved escaping her situation she couldn't do that for much longer. Instead of answering, she continued doing the dishes until she was done and slowly turned to face him.

"You know, I was planning on staying here forever. Is that possible?"

"As much as I would love that..." He laughed while approching her until he could seize her hands softly. "Making jokes isn't going to help. Plus, my parents would probably wonder why there's a girl harboring here."

"Your parents love me." She whispered with a weak smile and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"You sure about that? You were pretty annoying when we were kids." He teased and made a funny face.