From Autumn to Winter: A Winterwidow College AU

And They Were Roommates

Natasha

I don't know what made me do it. It may have been pity for James. Though I doubt that. Maybe it was because I did really need someone to talk to. I could really use some counseling. James had said it would be just as friends. I definitely wasn't ready to date again. The whole counseling explanation doesn't seem to fit either. Although it was a bit alarming how happy I was that I'd see James in a week.

"Ma'am. I believe this is your destination?" The cab driver pulled me from my thoughts. I looked out the window, and sure enough, there was Brittany Hall. "Uh--right. Thank you." I paid him and then stepped onto the busy street. I watched the car drive away. Why was I so spacey today? When people started muttering about the girl who was blocking their path, I decided I should maybe go inside.  I walked in, scanned my ID, and walked up the stairs.

As I approached my room, I knew at least one of my two roommates were home. I heard loud rock music blaring on the other side of the door. When I opened the door, Gwen was sitting on her bed in workout clothes lacing up her bright teal ballet shoes and humming to a song I didn't know. Kitty was sitting across the room on her bed with her noise canceling headphones on and one of her many books in her lap.

As soon as I stepped into the room, they looked up and their eyes went wide. Gwen paused the music and stood up, looking over me from head to toe. Kitty took off her headphones and stared at me. "Hey guy-" that was as far as I got before Gwen wrapped me in a hug and Kitty was asking me questions about where I had been at a mile a minute. "Woah, woah, woah. Chill out guys I'm fine. Can I please sit down?" They backed off for a moment, but still watched me closely.

As soon as I sat down, Kitty said "Nat, we thought you'd been kidnapped or worse or... I don't even know what. You were supposed to come home from work over four hours ago. You didn't answer your phone." Ah crap. I left my phone at the bar. "We were going to let campus police know that you were missing. The only reason we didn't is because that would mean telling them where you worked. We know how strong you are, but we were scared."

I'm kind of touched by how worried they were. They were probably my closest friends though. I can't believe I didn't think to call them this morning. I feel awful. "I'm okay, guys. Really." Gwen tilted her head and flipped her platinum blonde hair over her shoulder. "Do you really expect us to take that as an answer?" she said, her voice taught but honeyed. I thought about that. I mean, no. I didn't expect them to accept that. But did I want them to? Yes.

I glanced towards the ground. I could see Kitty's expression soften. "Do you want to tell us while we work in the studio? We were getting ready to go down there anyway." I looked up at her. She grinned at her and I returned it. One of the best things about Brittany Hall was that it had a lot of facilities for the arts. Including a dance studio. Since Gwen and I were dance majors and Kitty had a dance minor, we went down there a lot. It was actually a lot of fun. "Sure. I can do that. Just let me change." As I started to get my workout clothes out, Gwen said, "Speaking of clothes, where'd you get that jean jacket? And those other clothes?" On accident, I smiled. I quickly stifled it. "We said we'd discuss where I'd been in the studio. Didn't we?" Gwen raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything else.

When we reached the studio, there were only a couple of other dancers in the room. Their names were Emma and Wanda. I had a couple classes with both of them, however neither were close friends of mine. The lights in the studio were fairly bright, and it was making my hangover headache come back. I press on though, and we started stretching. I took a deep breath as Gwen and Kitty focused on me. "Okay. So, last night I...got drunk at work and passed out." The girls' eyes widened, but they didn't say anything. "When I woke up, I didn't know where I was. I was on a bed in an apartment I didn't recognize, and was still wearing my clothes from the party. I walked out into the kitchen, and that guy James, that the party was for, was making me breakfast. He told me he had come to the bar when he heard about a bartender getting drunk there, and he knew where I worked, so he assumed it was me. He took me back to his apartment, gave me some new clothes, and let me shower. The jean jacket was his."

"WHAT?!" yelled Gwen. Her leg that had been in the air for stretching dropped to the ground so quickly she almost kicked me in the face. Emma glanced at us like we were insane Kitty just sat and smiled. "What do you mean what? Also, could you keep it down?" Gwen just smiled and scoffed at me. "No guy is that nice. Is he hiding something from you?" Why must Gwen make me even more paranoid than I already am? Kitty looked at Gwen with a scolding look. "Don't listen to her, Nat. That story seems plausible enough. There are good ones, Gwen. You just have to get lucky enough to find one."

Gwen rolled her eyes at Kitty as she bent down for another stretch. "You know this from your successful relationships?" It sounds harsh, but Kitty was fairly open about the fact that she hadn't had many successful relationships. "I know this from friends experiences. And you talk to me like I'm dumb. Who's the astrophysics major here?" She made a gesture of throwing her hands up like she couldn't remember. "Oh yeah, me!"

It was true. Kitty was an astrophysics major with a dance minor. With all that, I'm not surprised she doesn't have a boyfriend. She probably doesn't have the time. Just as I was thinking about how happy I was that the conversation had moved away from me, Kitty said "Was he cute?" At first I didn't know what she was talking about. "What?" I puzzled.

"Was the guy who took you home hot?" retorted Gwen bluntly. That made me stop and think for a moment. Was he? I mean objectively, probably. Blue-green eyes, high cheekbones, that tousled, fluffy hair look that every girl loved. The guy had it all. But did I find him attractive? I'm trying my best not to, but I'm not sure if it's working. When I was quiet for a moment, Gwen smirked. "I think we can take that as a yes." I could feel my cheeks threatening to turn red. Oh no. Not today. "No...it's just...a complicated question." Wow. That went well. Real successful save.

Both girls giggled like we were in middle school and I had just revealed a crush. "Did you get his number?" asked Kitty. "Well no, but we're seeing each other this Sunday." They both smiled at me in a way that made want to crawl inside myself and hide like a turtle. I immediately threw my hands up. "Relax. It's just as friends." Kitty shook her head as she pulled her auburn hair into a ponytail. "Everyone always says that at first..." She said it in a way that suggested there would be something more than an at first. I just rubbed the bridge of my nose with my fingers and sighed. "I can't believe you guys don't see why I didn't want to tell you about things like this."

The girls exchanged proud glances. Somehow, they were happy with themselves for making me uncomfortable.

After that, the girls moved onto other topics. Classes, new food places. Normal stuff. However, I oddly found myself wanting the conversation to come back to my night. It's not that I want the attention. It's that I want to talk about...well. I want to talk about James. I guess try as I might, I can't forget him or his sheer perfectness.