The Boy Next Door

Rules

After spending a few minutes staring at the door that your new roommate Mark had closed, you finally snapped out of your shock and walked over to your closet to quickly change into some sweats and a loose shirt. You then quickly made your way to the bathroom - as Mark stood in the kitchen on the phone with his back toward you - to splash some water to cool down your heated face. You finally settled your hair in a bun before walking out to meet him in the living room.

"The food should be here in ten minutes," Mark declared as he opened the fridge to grab a beer. "You want some?"

"I wish I could," you sighed before settling down on the couch. "Unfortunately, I have work in the morning plus an afternoon class. So I'll have to pass."

"Yikes," Mark replied before settling down on the same couch, some distance away from you. "Lucky, I don't have to start my day till midday."

A comfortable silence sat between the both of you as you waited for the food to arrive. You leaned back on the couch with your eyes closed, trying to relax. Mark snuck a glance at you, and couldn't help the way his eyes studied your face. A part of him wished that he could study the rest of your body, but your choice of clothing wasn't doing him any favours.

"Am I boring you?" Mark teased with a light chuckle and you quickly sat up and opened your eyes.

"I'm sorry" you laughed lightly. "Unpacking took a lot more out of me than I had anticipated."

"I was just teasing," Mark reassured with his killer smile. "Should we discuss our schedule now then? So you can go rest after we eat?"

"Sounds good."

As the both of you discussed your schedules, you both realised that most of your class times and work shifts were opposite of each other. There were days where you would leave for the day before Mark would even have to wake up, and you would be asleep by the time Mark would get home from work. That gave both of you plenty of alone time, which you were both grateful for. You were roommates but you didn't want to be overwhelmed by each other's presence.

You also realised that the both of you had Tuesday morning, Wednesday evening, Friday morning and all of Saturday free together.

"So, I know we both love our alone time," Mark said after studying your schedules. "But, I don't want to live with a complete stranger for a year. I want us to be comfortable and not have to walk on eggshells around each other."

"I happen to agree. What do you have in mind?"

"What about movie night on Wednesdays?" Mark asked shyly, scratching the back of his neck. Why was he so nervous?

"Sounds good," you beamed at him. "You choose the movie and I can cook."

"You can cook?" Mark asked and you nodded enthusiastically. "Thank God. Jackson and I have been living on takeout for so long. I would literally pay you to cook me a decent meal."

"You don't have to pay me," you laughed in response. "Just do the dishes once in awhile and we're square."

"Done."

"We also have Saturdays free," you pointed out. "Why don't we leave that as chore and grocery day? And do whatever the hell we want at night?"

"Great minds think alike," Mark quipped before getting up to answer the door, bringing the food in. "Tonight is on me."

xxx

You spent the next half hour eating and getting to know each other. You found out that Mark bar tended at the local bar and can offer you a discount on drinks if you decided to come in with your friends (he said this with a wink and you almost fainted). He was also a gamer - spending most of his free time in his room playing games. Of course, you also found out the most important thing - he was single.

Mark found out that you actually worked with Jackson at the cafe across from campus. Jackson informed him that you were a classmate - and now he really wanted to deck Jackson for keeping you from him. You spent most of your time reading books and had to be pried away from them to actually get fresh air in your system. He couldn't help but smile at the way your features lit up as you talked about your books. He also ccouln't help but smile when you informed him, that you were also single.

"Okay, so ground rules?" you prompted Mark.

"Well, I don't really have anything major," Mark scratched the back of his neck. "Just the one. If I have the gaming sign on my door, please try not to interrupt me unless it's an emergency."

"Understandable," you replied. "What constitutes as an emergency?"

"The apartment going up in flames."

"What about if I need you to kill a spider?" you joked.

"I will be willing to forgive that one," Mark laughed, remembering that you were indeed a girl, and you would be requiring him to kill a few spiders here and there. He then prompted you for your rules.

"Just the one too," you answered. "To communicate with each other. I want to avoid as many unnecessary arguments as possible. So, I think if there is an issue, we just come out with it and solve it."

"Sounds doable," Mark agreed, as he started to pack away the food and throw out the empty takeout boxes.

"There is one last thing we need to discuss though," you brought up. "Even though, I don't really want to bring it up."

Mark raised a brow at you from the kitchen unsure of what you were referring to. A blush started to tint your cheeks, at the thought of having to broach the subject, and Mark thought it was the cutest thing ever. He really needed to stop staring at you.

"Should there be certain rules about bringing people over?" you asked quietly and Mark seemed more confused than before.

"Do you mean like having friends over? I don't think we need rules for that."

"No, I mean bringing people over," you repeated acting quotation marks in the air.

"Still not following."

You groaned and rub your face exasperatedly.

"Like, bringing someone over after a date," you said slowly, hoping he would get the hint.

"Oh, you mean rules about having sex? Why didn't you just say so?" You wanted to scream and throw yourself out of the window.

"I'm not sure to be honest," you sighed. "Anyway, yes that's what I meant. So rules, what are they?"

Mark seemed to contemplate to himself for a few minutes and you did the same, trying to see what you were comfortable with. It wasn't like you weren't used to this, Jaebeom brought his ex-girlfriend over all the time and you were almost sure that Jackson would have brought Irene over a few times.

"Jackson and I didn't really have rules about this," Mark sighed. "It's easy for us because we're both guys. We just put a tie on the doorknob to let each other know and that's it. How did you and Jaebeom handle this?"

"With respect," you answered Mark. "We always told each other when we were bringing someone home. Even when our rooms were separated, just like here, we still made sure that we weren't too... loud. Especially since either of us could be studying. That's about it really."

"Well, that sounds good to me," Mark smiled. "Not that you have to worry, I am too busy for that kind of extracurricular activity. What about you?"

"You don't have to worry about that either," you laughed. "I am probably going to turn into a cat lady like Jaebeom."

"Someone as beautiful as you? Not a chance." Mark said nonchalant, even though his heart was beating faster than a freight train.

Your blush warmed your cheeks before you mumbled out a quick 'thank you'. You then got up and helped Mark pack away the rest of the food, before bidding him goodnight, since you were working an opening shift at the cafe.

You laid down on your bed, staring at the ceiling for a few moments as you thought about your luck, with having Mark as a roommate. Everything seemed too good to be true that you were worried about how living with him was going to go. You decided to put your mind to rest for the night, and awaited for the slumber to consume you.

Who knew what the next day would bring?