When Y/N knocks on the stranger door at seven o'clock, on a Sunday morning, she is in the depths of despair. The mess of curls that replaces the door looks angry and confused. She can't blame him, but she is not sorry at all. Her life has been a living hell for the last couple of months, her former roommate is crazy and Y/N just can't take her shit anymore.
"Are you still looking for a roommate?" The words jump out of her mouth before she can think about them, she knows the poster on the Uni wall said "male spot," but she is out of options. The man keeps staring at her, frowning, not knowing what to say. "Look, I'm sorry, I know it's early and I know it's Sunday, but I'm really, really desperate." She softens her voice, he softens his face.
"Come in."
The inside of the apartment is way cleaner than she thought it would be, considering the poster said there were two men currently living there. There's a small living room, with an old, purple couch, a TV and endless piles of vinyl records. The kitchen is nice, but the chairs don't match the table nor each other.
"I'm making coffee, you want some?" The voice coming from the other side of the kitchen counter takes her out of her trance, making her realize she is still standing by the closed door.
"Yes, please." She walks towards the kitchen, guided by the bitter smell of fresh coffee, suddenly shy after realizing she is on a shirtless stranger house, about to beg him to move in. "I'm Y/N, by the way." She places her elbows on the counter and rests her cheek on one hand, staring at his exposed back.
"I'm Josh." He turns around and places a cup of coffee in front of her, a small smile drawn on his face. "Don't you wanna sit down?" He asks, making his way to one of the chairs behind her. She follows, sitting across from him, looking into his eyes in an attempt to read him, to know what to say. "So, you said you're desperate, right?" He breaks the silence.
"I am. I've been living with this girl since the beginning of the semester and she is crazy, like for real, and I've been handling it, trying to at least finish the semester before moving, but I can't take it anymore."
"That bad?"
"Yeah, and she got this boyfriend now and he's practically living with us. When they decide to fuck, which they do a lot, it sounds like someone is being murdered. I haven't properly slept in a week and now he'd started hitting on me. He pinched my ass before I stormed out and ran to your front door."
A silence falls upon them, Josh studies the girl for a moment, thinking about what to do. She hides her face behind the cup of coffee, trying to cover how ashamed she is for disturbing him so early on a weekend and throwing her problems over his shoulders.
"I live here with my brother Jake, we opened a male spot because we thought it would be weird for a girl living with us, we thought it could be uncomfortable for them or something. But if you don't mind, I guess we don't, either."
"I don't!" She rushes, smiling so openly the corners of her mouth almost touch her ears.
"Okay," he laughs, "but we gotta discuss this whole thing with Jake first, y'know." Her smile dies a little, just a bit, refusing to go away completely. "Stay here."
She watches as he stands up and disappears on the dim hallway. There is a distant knock, a mess of whispers and then, silence. She drums her fingers on the table and her foot on the ground, lip white where her teeth is sunken in.
After what felt like forever, Josh's figure comes out of the dark, now inside a shirt. Behind him is a long haired man who makes Y/N choke on her coffee. Josh runs to the girl, concern covering his face as he taps her gently on the back, while she coughs her lungs out.
