Burnt Ramen

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

As Kate walks out into her living room—now fully clothed—she finds Finn on the couch. He seems to be fixated with some game on his phone as his brows are drawn together and the tip of his tongue is poking slightly out of his mouth.

It’s really cute actually.

Realizing that she’s staring, Kate quickly clears her throat and brings her gaze to his eyes.

“So…” she begins.

Finn brings up his hand to run it through his hair, his eyes lingering on her damp locks. Luckily, there is no need for him to answer as the front door of the apartment bangs open.

“Honey, I’m home!” a familiar voice calls out.

Alice.

Kate turns over to look at her best friend, and immediately runs over to envelope her in a hug. It’s been about two weeks or so since she’s last seen Alice, and she’s missed her quite a bit. Her affection is returned as Alice squeezes her tightly, before whispering, “Who’s he?”

As Kate pulls back, she sees the expression on Alice’s face that so clearly reads you will be explaining this later. Kate’s learned by now that there is no getting out of such an interrogation. Looking down, Kate spots Lucas’s old duffel, which is a guarantee that Alice will be sleeping over.

Alice follows Kate’s gaze and says, “I’m staying the night. Unless you and your boyfriend already have plans?”

Shocked, Kate looks over at Finn, who seems just as surprised. If she looks close enough, it almost seems as if his cheeks are a faint red. “N-No,” she finally says. “Alice, for God’s sake, he’s my roommate.”

“Hmm,” she says, thoughtfully. And that’s never a good thing. Something embarrassing always happens to Kate when Alice gets that expression on her face.

Trying to derail Alice’s thoughts, Kate says, “Didn’t you hear, about the dorm building that burned down?”

“Wait,” she says, looking over at Finn. “That was your building?” Thankfully for Kate, Alice seems to have lost interest in whatever she had been planning.

Finn steps forward, “Yeah, some idiot on the floor below left his stovetop on while he was out.”

Alice laughs a bit, before snorting, “Boys.”

Smiling, Finn looks over at Alice and Kate with a thoughtful expression. “You know, I’ll just go over to see Carson. He’s probably feeling better.”

“O-Okay,” Kate says, a little surprised. She hadn’t thought Alice had made things too uncomfortable. Well, aside from her boyfriend comment. That had a startling effect on both her and Finn.