Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Rumi spends the first half of her morning staring at her email, more specifically at the date and time of when she can move into her apartment and maybe a little bit at the two women in the emails profile.

It's not exactly her 'apartment' more so a space she's going to be sharing with two other women (who happen to be in a relationship) for an undefined amount of time.

What Rumi is hoping is that she'll be in and out of the apartment in a couple of months maybe a year, but with inflation and how much her job pays her which is below minimum wage, that is seeming more and more unlikely.

Then she spends the other half of the morning putting her very few boxes into her car, just as she places her last box into the car her phone starts to ring. Just hearing the ringtone makes her roll her eyes. With a sigh she pulls her phone out of her pocket and puts it up to her ear.

"What do you want?" Jinu makes a wounded noise at the very cold opening to the call.

"Ouch, why assume I need something? what if I just want to talk to my best friend? so rude..." Jinu tries to sound hurt, but Rumi can see his smug smile just from his voice.

A few moments of silence pass as Rumi puts her phone on speaker and gets into her car, setting down her phone with a small 'thump' "Because you're never awake this early so you must need something." Jinu whistles lowly, she can hear him tapping his finger.

"Man, I was hoping to compliment you a little before you figured it out, like 'wow Rumi you're the best' 'you're totally not a socially awkward weirdly buff nerd-'" "Jinu!" Rumi holds the bridge of her nose and interrupts him; she pretends to be annoyed by his antics but the small smile fighting to show on her lips say a different story.

Jinu lets out a nervous laugh "okay, okay. impatient today jeez..." Rumi can hear him take a deep breath; she mentality prepares herself for what he might say. "soo... I might've accidently adopted a blue, derpy looking cat in my drunken state last night..."

A second passes then another as she tries to fully take in what he's saying, but before she can he starts talking again, this time much faster and quieter. "And my roommate, Abby is allergic, soIneedyoutotakehim"

"...."

"...."

"No, absolutely not."

"Why not? please Rumi" Rumi lets out a sigh and runs her hands down her face, she accidently pulls on her eye, pulling back quickly, she blinks rapidly to try and ease the stringing in her eye now. "I don't know if my new roommates are allergic to cats or if the building even allows pets"

Jinus end is quiet for a second before Rumi hears a door slam open and a whole bunch of sneezing "I though you said you were going to be keeping the cat in your room?" The voice sounds stuffy and can't stop sneezing, which Rumi assumes the voice belongs to the allergic roommate. "What- how did he get out of my room?"

Rustling and a bunch more sneezing is heard from his end before the soft click of a door shutting and a sigh. Rumi rubs her forehead and lets out a sigh of her own.

"Okay, fine-" Jinu immediately interrupts her "You're the best Rumi" Rumi brings the phone closer to her face as she turns on her car

"Give me about three days to talk to Mira and Zoey about the cat though" The names are like a foreign language on her tongue.

---------------------------------------------

Rumi stands at the door, trying to psych herself up to knock but every time she goes to her body freezes, after about the fourth failed knock she debates going back to her car, maybe tell them she can't be their roommate anymore and just live in her car, perhaps run away to a different country, change her name and pretend to be a French mime? but before she can even think more about her amazing plan the door opens.

It startles Rumi slightly, the girl who opened the door doesn't look surprised in the slightest, the couple mentioned their names in the few emails Rumi, and they have exchanged but they never exactly specified which is which. "You looked a little lost at the door, so I thought I'd open it for you."

Rumi stares at her for a second before she feels her face get hot.

she saw me stand at the door like an idiot...

The thought itself makes Rumi want to self-implode.

The girl gives Rumi a goofy side smile. "I'm Zoey!" Zoey holds her hand out for Rumi to shake.

She shifts the box to rest on one of her arms instead of two and gently shakes Zoeys hand, Zoey eyes the box in Rumi's hand before looking behind her. "Is that it or are the other boxes still in your car?"

One of the first thing Rumi notices about Zoey in the very short interaction they are currently having is that she can't seem to sit still, Zoey rocks from her tip toes to the balls of her feet. The second thing she notices is Zoeys shorter than her, even when she's on her tiptoes.

"The rest are in my car" Rumi answers softly, she nervously shifts the box in her hands again. Her eyes drift to her sleeves, the fabric is pulled snugly over her wrists and slightly over her hands.

Her eyes snap up as Zoey holds out her hands again "want some help?" Zoey tilts her head. Her space buns shift slightly with the movement.

"Oh.. Sure- I mean yeah, that'd be nice" Zoey happily takes the box from Rumi's grasp, she practically bounces her way towards Rumi's new room. Rumi stays frozen.

She watches the cheerful girl disappear into the room, after a deep breath and some silent cursing to herself about being Awkard she makes her way back down to her car.

There are only four boxes left, Rumi stares at the sad empty sight. She got rid of a lot of things, things she didn't need, grew out of, and things she didn't want to think about or even see again.

Her hands find a box labeled heavy in neat almost perfect handwriting that isn't hers.

"This is a new start. it'll be good for you." Rumi shakes her head softly; she didn't have time to think about her.

Rumi tugs her sleeves further down.

Just in case.

With a small huff she picks the box up, it isn't very heavy, to her at least.

When she turns around, she finds herself face to face with Zoey, well almost face to face. Rumi has to look down to make eye contact. "Wow, your braid is so long!"

Zoey leans over to look at Rumi's braid. The purple braid goes down past her lower back, it's one of the things Rumi is quite proud about. The last time she cut her hair (aside from dead ends) she was eight.

She got gum stuck in her hair because she was playing with it, her aunt told her not to, but young Rumi being young Rumi didn't listen. She can still picture the exact face her aunt Celine made when young Rumi came to her crying, snot all over the place, Rumi was holding scissors and her hair on the left side was cut at an angle higher than her ear.

The third thing Rumi notices, Zoey has very short bangs, it doesn't look weird on her though, it fits her in a way.

Zoey moves past her to pick up two boxes, she frowns slightly when she sees how little Rumi has packed. "Is this it?" she tilts her head like she did at the door, asking Rumi the same question.

Rumi gives Zoey a soft smile and a shrug that she hopes looks natural

It does not.

"Yeah" Zoey nods and walks off towards the apartment, Rumi sighs and grabs the last box. She has to balance the heavy box and the very light box on one arm as she reaches up to close the trunk of her car.

She makes her way up to the apartment; Zoey left the door open for her. She walks into the apartment, slow and unsure. This is where she's going to be living for a while, with a short very bubble Zoey and Her girlfriend Mira.

Rumi's stomach makes a quiet rumble noise at the thought of meeting Mira, in their profile picture Mira had a very serious look on her face.

She takes a deep breath, it'll all be alright Rumi, keep it together.

She drags her feet as she slowly makes her way towards her new room, through the door she catches a glimpse of Zoey bending over to put down the boxes.

Zoeys oversized hoodie unfortunately blinds her, the hood goes across her face, effectively covering her vision and she makes a small huff. "Hey, who turned out the lights.."

She grumbles softly, placing down Rumi's boxes with the upmost care, instead of standing up and pushing down the hood Zoey wiggles out of the hoodie, leaving her in a green shirt with a huge turtle on the back.

with sunglasses.

Rumi watches the smaller girl's antic with a soft smile on her face; she leans over and places down her boxes. Zoey grabs the hoodie and folds it over her arm. "Mira should be back any minute now! she went to pick some stuff up for dinner" Zoey walks out of Rumi's room. "I'll be in my room if you need anything!"

Rumi waits for a second before shutting the door, she plops down onto her new mattress with a sigh. Zoey's something.

Not in a bad way, more like an energetic, talkative, sweet way.

She looks around, the walls are bare, white, not like the blinding white she's used to, the house smells... soft? it's hard to explain, she's never smelt anything like this.

Rumi reaches over; she grabs the box closet to her and opens it. it doesn't have much in it, some old journals from her teenage years, she can't bring herself to get rid of them, she also can't bring herself to open them, the stuff she worked so hard to get past, to forget.

Maybe one day she will.

The covers are dull, different shades of brown. She holds them gently, almost cautiously. She puts them to the side before leaning over and grabbing a bigger box.

This one is filled with clothes, hoodies and long sleeves. She has some shorts but mostly just pants and jeans. Rumi takes a quick look at the one she's wearing, it's a soft grey. Her mouth twitches slightly, she digs through her other clothes and eventually pulls out a different hoodie.

This one is a light purple; it has some small patterns on the sleeves; she takes off her current hoodie, she has on a black long sleeve underneath.

Her braid gets stuck when she tries to pull her purple hoodie over her head.

Rumi groans and yanks her braid free; she stands up and plops her old hoodie into the box.

She doesn't know what to do now, her boss made her take a few days off to get settled into her new apartment, she doesn't have any friends, besides Jinu of course but she rather saw off her own hand then talk to him right now.

She could start unpacking but she hasn't even put her dresser together, she puts her head in her hands as a thought dawns on her.

She doesn't know how to put it together.

"I'm doomed.." Rumi lays back on her bed, her hands fall over her chest and her legs scrunch up.

She sighs, she wants to relax here, this is her house too now, her room, but Rumi can't, she's never been able to relax anywhere.

The fourth thing Rumi notices, or more so assumes is that the walls must be thin.

She can hear the soft click of a door opening, followed by the creak of a door closer to her opening, most likely Zoey's room.

Then talking, it's muffled but Rumi can make out some of it.

"Hey, baby!" Zoey's most likely "I missed you" Yeah that's Zoeys voice.

"I was gone for literally 30 minutes." This voice is deeper, maybe a little rough? "I missed you two"

Rumi realizes she's listening in on the two girls' conversation, her cheeks go a little red.

With a small huff she rolls onto her side and tries to give the two some privacy "Don't listen to their conversations, weirdo..."

She makes a mental note to buy headphones soon.

The talking stops and she hears footsteps again, this time they sound a little quicker, they are also coming towards her room.

Rumi stiffens as she hears a soft knock on her door. "Rumi? Miras home!"

Rumi turns towards her door; she slowly gets up.

"Coming" With a soft sigh and a very anxious thought process running a mile per second she very slowly gets up.

Like extremely slow, by the time Rumi counts to ten in her head to try and calm herself down she still isn't fully up.

She wouldn't describe herself as socially awkward but everyone she's ever met would a 100% say different.

With a feeling she could only describe as dread and wishing she was Amish, Rumi opens her door.

Zoey gives her a bright smile that shows off all her teeth. "She brought home food" Zoey beckons Rumi towards the kitchen with a wave of her hand.

The two walk together towards the kitchen, Rumi is slightly behind Zoey, her eyes are glued to the floor, lost in thought.

Rumi finally looks up as Zoey stops, it takes her a few seconds to realize just how tall Mira is. She has to bend her neck to make eye contact with her.

Mira is...

intimidating, that's one of the words Rumi would use to describe her.

Yeah, Rumi saw her picture already, but no picture could've prepared Rumi for just how scary Mira looks in real life.

Mira gives her a small head nod. "Hey" Zoey looks between the two happily.

She leans into Rumi slightly and whispers, still loud enough for Mira to hear. "Shes been really excited to meet you"

Rumi sees Miras face go from bored maybe? to a slight red and wide eyes, "Zoey!" she says quickly.

Mira narrows her eyes and looks away from the two girls. "Don't say it like that, you're making me sound like a creep."

She grumbles, Rumi looks over at Zoey, she's laughing "I've just been interested to see what kind of person our roommate would be"

Mira straightens her posture, and her face goes semi back to normal; she still looks a little embarrassed.

Her eyes go from Zoey to Rumi, which in turn makes Rumi stiffen a little.

She extends her hand towards Rumi "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too" Rumi grabs onto Miras hand and gives it a soft shake, she's sure Mira can feel how shaky her hand is.

That's totally not embarrassing at all...

As Mira starts walking towards the counter she ruffles Zoeys hair, Zoey pouts and playfully swats the taller girl's hand away "You're gonna mess up my hair"

Mira quirks an eyebrow, a small smug grin fights its way onto her face "Oh, it's not already messed up?"

Rumi looks away as the two girl's banter with each other, she looks at the floor, she looks at the living room and kitchen, she even starts counting the cabinets just so she doesn't interrupt them.

She doesn't want her new roommates to think she's weird or think that she has a staring problem or that she's a bad person for staring at them while they have a moment, she doesn't want them to regret letting her live there.

Rumi starts to feel overwhelmed as the thoughts crowd her head, she quickly looks up when something gently bumps her.

it's Zoey.

"Do you see what I have to go through every day?" Zoey looks up at Rumi and pouts playfully. She points at Mira like she's personally offended her.

Mira chuckles, she crosses her arms and leans against the counter. "You're so dramatic"

Zoey gasps before leaning into Rumi slightly more, she pulls her hands up to her chest like she's been shot. "See, Rumi!" Rumi freezes.

Miras looking directly at her as Zoey leans against her and continues to pout, Rumi takes a deep breath. She opens her mouth to say something, but nothing comes out-

expect a laugh.

It's not a loud or long laugh, it's soft and quiet but still there.

Miras grin turns to a smile for a split second before she turns away and starts to put out plates. Zoey gives Rumi a small smile and nudge before walking over to Mira.

"Ooooo" Zoey leans over and starts pointing at everything she sees "I want that! and that! ooo and that!" Mira starts putting all of Zoeys food onto her plate.

Zoey grabs it from Mira with a soft kiss to the cheek before walking over to the table. Rumi stands there.

Awkwardly,

Like everything she does.

She tenses as Mira suddenly looks over at her, her eyebrow is raised, like she's waiting for something. "You want some? we got, kimchi, tteokbokki, and bibimbap"

As if on cue Rumi's stomach rumbles loud enough for Mira to hear, Mira laughs.

Rumi looks away and mentally curses at her stomach for embarrassing her. "I'll have some tteokbokki" Mira nods and before Rumi can get it for herself Mira starts to make her a plant.

Mira hands it to her without saying anything, Rumi stares at her confused for a few seconds before walking over to the table, she sits in front of Zoey and starts to quietly eat her food.

Zoey looks up as Mira sits down next to her, she looks over at Rumi "so, Rumi, why'd you move here?" She asks softly.

Rumi looks up and sees both Mira and Zoey staring at her, she clears her throat and looks back down at her food.

once again feeling awkward "I just needed a fresh start" It's not exactly a lie but it's not the truth.

-------------------------------------------------

The rest of the dinner goes by quietly.

Quietly as in Zoey talks about everything and nothing for a whole 30 minutes with Mira just softly humming and nodding her head at every other thing, she says.

The girls walk down the hall together to their rooms; Rumi goes to open hers "Goodnight, Rumi!" She looks back to see Zoey waving at her.

"Night" Mira gives Rumi a head nod instead of a wave. She stares at them for a second before she gives them a soft wave back.

"goodnight"

Her door shuts with a soft click, she stares at her wall as she tries to take everything that happened today in.

Chapter Text

Rumi stares blankly at her wall. Her breathing is quiet and slow, almost non-existent, the soft sound of rain drumming against the apartment drowns out any thoughts in her head.

Her fingers are mixed into the blanket. Her alarm clock blinks red as bold letters flash on and off her screen.

9:30 AM.

The color flashes on and off Rumi's face, every once and awhile a bright white or yellow will cross her face as cars zoom by the apartment.

Her alarm clock went off ten minutes ago, yet she still makes no move to get up, it's not like she needed to anyways, she doesn't have any classes today and she has time off her job.

Click

Followed by a creak and soft footsteps.

Rumi finally tears her gaze away from her wall and instead towards her door.

Are they awake?

Rumi listens quietly for talking, or another pair of footsteps but she hears nothing like that.

What she does hear is rustling, faint, far away rustling, like metal on metal.

Rumi tilts her head and gets up, she slowly opens her door, hoping to maybe avoid the loud creaking sound it makes, but it's no use.

Rumi winces and her face scrunches up as the door makes a very low and long creaking sound.

Whoever is in the kitchen knows she's awake now, Rumi straightens her posture and continues her way towards the kitchen. She sees Mira's and Zoey's door open a crack, but she doesn't dare look in.

She wouldn't want them to look into her room.

She peers around the corner and sees Mira in the kitchen; Mira has a fork in one hand and a bowl tilted slightly in ther other as she mixes whatever is in the bowl.

Rumi moves back behind the corner, debating on if she should go back to her room and stare at the wall for another two hours or if she should say hi to Mira.

Her eyes drift down to her clothes, most importantly her sleeves.

Rumi holds her arms out slightly, her purple sleeves cover them, but she still makes sure, rotating her arms to inspect every inch of them.

She squints, even though they're covered she can still see them, feel them.

Dread bubbles up in her stomach, maybe Zoey and Mira can see them too?

She looks at the kitchen, she can hear the sound of liquid being mixed together.

Rumi stands there, she can feel the dread getting worse, it tugs at her stomach aggressively.

She pulls her sleeves down more, tugging them past her knuckles.

She grips onto the end of her sleeves before quickly but quietly making her way back to her room.

Rumi softly shuts the door; she leans back against it with a sigh.

She lets her body slowly slide down the door when she meets the floor, she immediately pulls her legs up to her chest, she wraps her arms around her knees.

Rumi sits there not moving. Her head falls back against the door with a soft sigh.

She runs her hands down her legs, her heart beats fast, they can't see, she knows that but it doesn't help the tug in her stomach.

She's been getting better about not freaking out like this, she really has, but as Rumi has always been told.

"There are setbacks in recovery."

She mumbles softly to herself; she lays her legs out flat.

The sun starts to raise and leak into Rumi's room from her half-opened blinds. She frowns as the light gets a little too bright and starts to blind her.

Rumi groans as she gets up, she shuts the blinds then scowls at them.

"Can't you see I was having a moment?" With a flick to the blinds Rumi feels satisfied with her self-proclaimed win.

Rumi turns around as she hears a knock. "Rumi, you up?" Rumi freezes for half a second, eyeing the door as she nervously swallows.

"Yep, I'm up" Her voice is slightly shaky, she cringes at the sound of her own voice betraying her.

A beat of silence passes before Mira speaks again "I made some eggs, you want some?"

"Yeah" Rumi managed to get her shaky voice under control. "I'll make you a plate."

Mira's footsteps make a retreat back to the kitchen, leaving Rumi alone again.

She takes a quick look around her room before making her way towards her door.

They can't see them.

Rumi takes a deep breath as she turns the corner to the kitchen, Mira places down a plate full of eggs on the table.

She looks down at her plate as Mira sits down on the other side of the table, her own plate already there.

As Rumi walks towards the table, she sees that both her and Mira have quite a bit of food on their plates.

Mita notices the look Rumi has on her face as she sits down. "I accidently made too much"

Rumi looks at her and nods in response

She looks around, she doesn't see any sign of Zoey or a plate for Zoey, she tilts her head.

She looks back at Mira, Mira is quietly eating her food, her gaze is down at the table "Mira?"

She lifts her gaze "Yeah?"

"Where's Zoey?" Rumi pokes at her food, she looks away as she waits for Mira's answer.

"She's still asleep" Mira quickly glances at the clock they have in the living room, she squints to read it. "It's only 9:55. Don't expect her up for another hour, maybe two."

A small smile grows on Mira's face as she talks about Zoey, Rumi nods softly.

She didn't seem like a morning person to Rumi; she probably should've guessed that.

Breakfast goes by quickly, the two don't talk.

As Rumi stands up Mira takes her plate and stacks it on top of her own, Rumi blinks.

Once-

Twice.

"Oh I can wash off the plates" She finds herself quickly blurting out, Mira turns back and raises an eyebrow.

"You sure?" Rumi nods and takes a step closer to grab the plates "You made it, it's only fair if I wash the plates"

Mira nods and gives the dirty plates over to Rumi with a quiet "Thanks"

Rumi turns on the water and starts to wash the dishes, instead of Mira going back to her room like Rumi thought she would, she goes over to the couch.

Mira grabs the remote and starts to flick through Netflix.

Rumi turns back to the dishes; She frowns.

She gently scrubs the plates, going slow to make sure no water spills on her sleeves.

She gives herself a mental high five when she does just that. "Rumi have you ever seen the man?"

Rumi lifts her head ever so slightly to see Mira already looking at her.

She quickly dries the dishes, putting them away carefully before she makes her way over to Mira.

She tilts her head as she looks up at the tv, it looked like a horror movie.

Rumi shakes her head "um, no I don't think so" Mira hums.

"Yeah, me neither" She presses play and turns her attention back to the tv.

Rumi stands there awkwardly, did Mira want her to stay here and watch tv? or was she just wondering if she had seen the movie so she could know if it was good or not?

Rumi's yanked out of her thoughts by Mira clearing her throat.

She looks over and sees Mira staring at her with a somewhat amused smirk on her face "You can sit down, it's your couch too"

Rumi gives Mira a small smile back as she cheeks puff red.

she sits down on the couch, Mira is tucked up on one side and Rumi on the other.

-------------------------------------------------< /> The movie is trash, the graphics are bad, the acting is corny.

Mira and Rumi find themselves laughing instead of getting scared.

They're only about 45 minutes into the two hour movie when a door opens.

They look over at the hallway to see Zoey sleepily walking.

Zoey suddenly frowns as she sees them on the couch, she takes a quick look at the tv. "You guys are bonding and watching cheesy movies without me?"

Rumi can hear a slight pout in her voice.

Zoey walks over and plops down in-between the two girls, groaning softly as she does. "You guys are so fake.."

Mira laughs and holds up her arm, Zoey immediately moves closer and tucks herself into Mira.

Rumi looks over at the two girls, Zoey is stretched out over Mira, Miras hands are resting on top of her, she makes slow circles on Zoeys arms with her fingers.

Rumi looks back at the tv.

The main character is trying to cry; he just looks constipated.

She chuckles quietly, Zoey on the other hand breaks out laughing. "Oh my god, he can't act"

Mira shakes her head; she laughs too but it's not as loud as Zoeys.

The blinds are open next to the tv, normally that would be a problem but due to how hard it's raining no sunlight is able to come through.

Rumi takes her attention off the movie and down to her phone when it pings.

She rolls her eyes thinking that it's Jinu asking about the cat, when she turns on her phone a picture of Jinu and her light up her face.

The message is from her boss.

Rumi clicks on it.

Bobby: Hi Rumi, I know I said you could have a couple of days off but were very short staffed right now, Jacobe and Clyde got some type of poisoning after kissing a frog out back.

Bobby: They've been throwing up for the past ten minutes.

Bobby: Is there any way you can make it here?

Rumi frowns, of course Jacobe and Clyde would do something like that.

Rumi: Hi Bobby. do you still have my blue hoodie there?

She left a blue hoodie there a couple of months ago just in case she would ever have to come to work if it was raining.

She did have to, multiple times, her boss, Bobby tried to schedule her off of work whenever it was supposed to rain but sometimes stuff like this happened and he had no choice but to have her come into work.

Bobby: yes, I do, I had it washed and dried after the last time you came in

With a sigh Rumi stood up and sent her last text.

Rumi: I'll be there in about twenty minutes Bobby.

Mira and Zoey look over at Rumi, Zoey gets out of Miras embrace and instead sits cross legged on the couch staring up at Rumi.

Rumi looks over and notices the two girls staring at her, she lifts her phone up and gives it a soft shake "My boss called me into work today"

Mirs looks over at how bad the rain is coming down "Why would he call you in now? The rains really bad"

"Two of my coworkers kissed a frog and now they're throwing up"

Mira sits there dumbfounded, Zoey starts to laugh, her head falls backward as she starts to straight up crackle.

"Are you going to be okay driving in this?" Rumi nods quickly, a polite smile on her face "Yeah I'll be okay don't worry."

She can't tell them she's just gonna walk instead of even attempting to drive in this.

She can barely drive in normal weather, it's too embarrassing.

When Jinu found out she couldn't drive in the rain she didn't hear the end of it for months, even now he still sometimes makes fun of her.

Zoey perks up, she stands up and smiles at Rumi "Ooo, I'll walk you to your car. Creeps always come out when it's raining"

Rumi quickly shakes her head "No! um I mean it's okay, besides who would walk you back to the apartment?"

Zoey grabs onto Miras hand and holds it up like they do when someone wins in wrestling.

Mira just lets her.

"But what about your guy's clothes? they'll get wet" Mira is in sweatpants and a tank top, Zoey is in a white t-shirt that says 'I love my gf' it hangs off her shoulder slightly, she's in pajama pants that have a bunch of different sea animals on it.

Mira tilts her head; she's looking at Rumi closely now, her eyes are narrowed as if she's trying to figure out what's wrong.

Rumi holds her breathe and tries to avoid Miras gaze "Why don't you want us to walk you to your car?"

Rumi looks over at Zoey then at Mira, she sighs and her shoulders sag in defeat. "I wasn't gonna drive to work.. I was going to walk"

Rumi makes her voice quieter at the end; she's hoping that maybe just maybe they wouldn't hear or hopefully they wouldn't care, because why would they?

She was just some random girl to them, roommate yeah, but she moved in yesterday and they've only had like three conversations.

But all of Rumi's hope shatters when Zoey gasps, she points outside "You were gonna walk? in this!" to solidify her point Zoey taps against the glass a couple of times.

Mire doesn't say anything, she walks over to the door and plucks her own keys off the dresser.

"Do you have to change before we drop you off?" Rumi looks down at her clothes, she just needs to change into her work pants.

She looks over to Mira and opens her mouth to say something, anything really but nothing comes out, the words die in her throat as she sees Mira glaring at her.

"I'll be right back..."

-

---------------------------------------

Rumi types in her works address on her own phone and gives it to Mira.

The first part of the ride is just Mira lecturing Rumi.

"Walking by yourself is a horrible idea Rumi, do you know how many people go missing?"

"Especially in the rain, that just adds on to everything. You could get sick." As if on cue the rain picks up, Zoey nods and hums to every other word Mira says.

Rumi sits in the back of Miras Jeep with her head down, she can't believe she's getting lectured by Mira like she's five.

She also can't figure out why Mira cares so much, she doesn't know Rumi, why would she care so much about her?

she wasn't anyone special.

The second half of the ride is Zoey just talking on and on about sea animals, food, and her favorite games.

Rumi doesn't mind; it's better than getting lectured by Mira, plus it seems like Zoeys talking is calming down Mira.

When they pull into Rumi's work, Mira grabs her phone but doesn't give it back to Rumi, instead she starts to type something.

Rumi frowns as she shifts in the back seat to try and get a better look at her phone.

"Here I put my name and number into your phone, call me when you need to be picked up" Mira starts to hand Rumi her phone back but Zoey grabs it before Rumi can.

"I'll put mine in two!" She quickly types in her name and number; she hands it back to Rumi with a smile. "Have a good day Rumi"

"Thanks, you too" She gives Zoey a small smile.

Just as she's about to get out of the car Mira speaks up. "Just tell us about stuff like this next time"

Her voice is softer than it was before, Rumi pauses, her hand is on the door handle "I will"

"Bye, Rumi"

"Bye"

Rumi gets out of the car and softly shuts the car door; she quickly walks over to the bookstore; she swings open the door and hurries inside before she can get even more soaked.

She stands there dumbfounded as she watches Miras car leave the parking lot, why did they care so much?

It doesn't make sense to Rumi; they don't know her, and she doesn't know them.

So why do they act like they care about her?

"Rumi! hey, I'm so sorry I made you walk in that rain" Rumi quickly turns around and smiles.

"It's alright, Bobby" She sees him holding up her blue hoodie. "I actually didn't have to walk today"

Bobbys eyes light up. "Really? did you finally get past your fear of driving in the rain?"

Rumi looks down and laughs quietly, Bobby really did care about her, it was nice.

"No, my roommates drove me here" Rumi follows Bobby as he walks back behind the counter.

He was shorter than Rumi and a little bit plumpy. "I see, are you liking your new roommates?"

He sets down her blue hoodie on a table before turning back towards her.

"They're really nice so far" Bobby lets out a quiet hum as he's turned away from Rumi trying to find something.

"How's Jinu? he hasn't stopped by recently" Rumi leans against the counter, she shakes her head and sighs.

"Well, he's currently occupied with a blue cat he bought when he was drunk"

Rumi sees Bobbys head pop up for a second, like he's thinking before he continues his search.

"I thought his roommate was allergic?"

Rumi's been working here since she was 16, now she's almost 21.

Jinu used to work here too, he quit a couple months back to focus on school. Bobby knows pretty much everything about the two.

"He is"

"Which is why he's trying to make me ask my Roommates if we can take in the cats, I haven't even been moved in for two days yet-" Rumi stands up straight as her eyes widen.

"They're still here?" She sees her two coworkers taking turns puking in a garbage can.

Bobby quickly looks up and over to where she's looking, he nods and goes back to what he was doing. "Yeah, poor kids were in no position to drive home, so I told them they could stay if they puked into the garbage can outside"

Rumi slowly nods, she watches the two boys for a few seconds before quickly turning away, she has to suppress her own gag. "gross.."

Bobby stands up, he's holding a box with a proud smile. "Found it" He holds the box out to Rumi.

She grabs it from him, looking down at the box before back at him with a puzzled look on her face.

He matches her puzzled look with his own "Aren't you going to open it? She said it was important to you and to give it to you as soon as I saw you"

Rumi has to walk after bobby, he starts to walk back to his office, probably to grab something else.

"What? Who said that, Bobby?"

"Your aunt Celine"

Rumi stops walking after him, she watches as he disappears into his office.

She looks down at the box in her hands, Rumi sighs as she goes to a table to sit.

Since it's raining so bad they probably won't have any costumers.

The box sits on the table, she already knows what's in it.

It's a necklace, some pictures of her mom, and a picture of young Rumi and her aunt Celine taken three days after her mother's death.

What she doesn't know is why didn't Celine give it to Rumi herself?

Rumi really thought they were getting along better now.

She sees something wet hit the box and quickly moves a finger up to her eye.

she started crying, Rumi didn't notice that.

She used her sleeves to wipe off her eyes, they sting with tears that didn't get to fall.

"Here you go, Rumi. Now you can officially start your shift for the day" Bobby walks up to the table Rumi is sat at.

He hands her an apron "Thanks, Bobby"

---------------------------------------------

It's 4 now, there hasn't been a single costumer.

Rumi can hear Bobby in the back talking about how he might close early today and call a cab for the boys.

She sits at one of the many empty tables, phone in hand as she scrolls through videos of cats doing tricks.

A text message flashes over the screen, it's from Zoey.

Zoey: Hiiii

Another message.

Zoey: Mira wanted me to text you to see what time you need to be picked up! And also, what do you want for dinner?

Zoey: Miras thinking either stir fry orrr zucchini with cheese

Rumi smiles at Zoeys message. "Hey, Bobby? What time are we closing?"

She can hear Bobby sigh. "Well, I really don't think we're going to get any customers today..."

He trails off for a few seconds, pacing around the kitchen. "I'll close up, you can go home now"

Rumi frowns and quickly looks behind her. "Are you sure Bobby?"

Bobby pokes his head out of the kitchen door; he gives her a smile and a nod. "I'm sure, go enjoy the rest of your day"

Rumi smiles at him before returning back to her phone.

Rumi: Hi, Zoey they both sound good to me.

Rumi: And I'm off now if you guys can come get me

She feels bad for the last-minute request, so she sends another message.

Rumi: If not that's okay! I can walk.

Zoeys reply comes quick.

Zoey: Don't be silly! we'll be there in ten

Rumi is about to shut off her phone when suddenly Zoey sends something else.

It's a picture of Mira reaching her hand out towards the camera smiling while Zoey dangles her keys right in front of the camera.

Zoey: We're having stir fry!

Chapter Text

It's almost been a month since Rumi moved in.

"Miraaa" Zoeys voice rings throughout the tiny apartment.

Rumi's shuffling behind her, her hair is sticking out from her braid in multiple places.

"Why are we looking for Mira again?" Rumi asks, Zoey woke her up a literal minute ago. "Because she said she'd go check out a noise we heard, and she hasn't come back"

The two girls make their way down the hallway, their only light is Zoeys phone flashlight.

"Mira!" Zoey tries again, she calls out her name louder this time.

Rumi yawns, she's barely staying upright behind Zoey, her whole body just wants to go back to bed.

Creak...

The two girls stop dead in their tracks, Zoey looks behind and opens her mouth, Rumi cuts her off though.

"Yeah.. I heard it two..."

Zoey's hand with the phone starts to shake, Rumi puts her hand on her shoulder to help steady her arm but that just makes Zoey drop the phone.

"Zoey!" Rumi whisper shouts as the phone lands on its back, effectively leaving the two girls in the pitch black.

Zoey drops down to the floor. "I know! I know!" Unlike Rumi she doesn't even try to be quiet.

She fumbles around in the darkness looking for her phone. "I got it!"

"Shut up!"

Zoey freezes, she doesn't lift up the phone, instead she turns to look back at Rumi. She can't see anything but she's about 70% sure Rumi is looking at her two.

"...."

"....'

"Was that you?"

"No..."

Zoey slowly turns back to her phone, she grabs onto it tightly.

The creature from the dark groans.

it's probably hungry..

With a quiet gulp Zoey slightly picks up her phone. "Be gone creature from the dark! You can't have mine or Rumi's juicy ass!"

She lifts the phone quickly and what she sees sends her running.

In the middle of the hallway stands a tall pale figure with long pink hair, the hair works as a mask against its face.

Wait a minute..

Zoeys seen this figure before..

"Oh my god! it's the Grudge!" She drops her phone and scrambles to her feet "Rumi run!"

Rumi barely has any time to process what's happening before she's plowed over by Zoey.

The two fall to the floor with a yelp and a very loud thump.

"Oh my god!" The Grudge starts to walk down the hallway to where Zoey and Rumi are laid flat out on top of each other. "Zoey I'm not the Grudge."

Zoey looks back to see the figure pick up the phone and shine it on the two girls, she can finally make out who it is.

"Mira!" Zoey cries out and quickly gets up to launch herself into Miras arms.

Rumi is used as the launching pad.

"Ow!.. Zoey.." Rumi yelps and groans as Zoeys hands and feet dig into her waist and stomach.

Mira catches Zoey. "Mira" she leans up and tries to give Mira a kiss.

Mira stares at the shorter girl before letting go of her. "No."

Zoey immediately falls to her knees as she was leaning all of her weight onto Mira.

Zoey looks over to see Mira help Rumi up.

As soon as Rumi's up she starts to rub her side, the poor girl looks like she just got ran over by elephants.

Zoey winces as she rubs the back of her neck. "Sorry, Rums.."

Instead of answering Rumi gives Zoey a thumbs up and a very shaky smile.

Zoey looks away.

whoops...

Mira picks her up and helps her onto her feet. "Why were you yelling for me?"

Zoey gasps dramatically and throws herself in Miras arms again, this time Mira lets her.

"I thought you were dead!..." She snuggles up to Mira and sighs.

"Why would I be dead?" Zoey tilts her head and frowns.

"Because you said you'd go check out the weird noise and never came back!"

"oh."

The floor bored creak softly as Rumi takes a few steps towards them. "What were you doing in the kitchen?"

Zoey looks from Rumi to Mira. "Yeah, what were you doing?"

Zoey knows when Mira is nervous.

She shifts foot to foot.

She has this weird smile.

And her voice gets lower.

"Nothing" Mira says quickly, her smile looks unnatural, she starts to shift foot to foot and the most obvious one..

Her voice is deeper.

Zoey gasps and tries to run past Mira to the kitchen but Mira must've read her face because she immediately grabs onto Zoey.

"Rumi!" Mira holds out her arm to block Rumi but she's already squeezing past it and speed walking towards the kitchen.

She flicks on the light and frowns.

"It's not what it looks like!" Zoey wiggles out of Miras grip and runs into the kitchen.

She looks around and can't see what Rumi is seeing until..

Bingo.

A cookie container open on the counter with a spoon next to it.

"Were you eating cookie dough... in the dark?" Rumi asks as she turns around to look at Mira.

Zoey turns around and shakes her head. "Wow Mira, eating cookie dough in the dark after you said we couldn't eat it."

Rumi frowns again and nods slowly. "Yeah, you just got mad at me for doing that."

Zoey nods and pulls Rumi closer, she gets onto her tiptoes and starts to gently pat her head. "yeah, you just got mad at her for that"

Miras looks at Zoey, then Rumi, Zoey again, Rumi again before finally landing on Zoey.

Her face is a decent amount of red, Zoey smirks at her and shakes her head once more.

"You called Rumi's ass juicy."

Zoeys smirk falls.

The three stand in silence.

Rumi slowly turns towards Zoey with her head tilted. "Oh yeah, you did"

Miras smirking at Zoey and now Zoeys the one with a red face.

She realizes she only has one option on how to handle this.

Zoey glares at Mira before very loudly declaring.

"Mira has ibs and usually clogs the toilet!"

Mira gasps.

Zoey smirks.

Rumi looks at the couple before looking over at the clock on the stove.

4:45 AM.

She sighs.

"I'm going back to bed."

as Rumi slowly shuffles back to her room, hand still on her hurt hip, Mira turns away from Zoey.

"I'm not cuddling you anymore." Mira starts to walk back towards their room.

Zoey gasps and chases after Mira.

"Baby!"

"Shut up, we're going to get in trouble for being loud."

Despite Miras words she does end up cuddling Zoey.

Zoey wakes up with a small yawn and stretch.

Her hands move around the bed to find an empty stop next to her, like most mornings Mira wakes up before Zoey.

Zoey slowly sits up, she slouches over before making her way towards the edge of the bed.

She knocks a few of her stuffed animals off the bed.

She lets her body naturally fall off the bed.

Their downstairs neighbors hate them

for more reasons then that one..

She pushes herself up off the floor and makes her way towards the living room.

That's where Mira usually is in the mornings, or the kitchen if Zoey wakes up early enough which is basically never.

The house has a faint smell of vanilla, Zoey can't remember the last time they used that candle.

The living room is empty, she frowns and turns her attention to the kitchen.

it's also empty, Zoey takes a quick scan of the two areas.

The lights are off and the blinds are open in the living room, the house is quiet.

She eyes the counter as something on it catches her eye.

Zoey hums and walks towards it, she tilts her head.

it's a sticky note.

'Hi, Zoey. I'm going to pick up lunch. Love, Mira'

"Aww how cute" Zoey mutters to herself, she rereads it once more and a word sticks out to her-

Lunch.

Zoey almost takes herself out by how fast she turns around to look at the clock.

Her jaw practically hits the floor when she sees how late she slept.

"Mira!" She calls out before remembering she's gone.

With a soft huff she walks back to her room, she picks up her phone.

Zoey: Mira!

Zoey: Why didn't you wake me up? =(

Surprisingly Miras reply comes quick.

Mira: You looked peaceful

Mira: You also stayed up all night.

Zoey: it's 4!!!! Mira half the day is wasted!

Mira: Then go to sleep earlier

Mira: I have to go, the line is moving. I love you

Mira: Hang out with Rumi or something

Zoey: I love you too!

Zoey perks her head up and stuffs her phone into her pocket. "I will go hangout with Rumi"

She skips over to her bedroom door and door the hall, she stops right in front of Rumi's door.

She knocks softly, just in case Rumi's still asleep.

it's Rumi though, of course she's not still asleep. "Rumi?"

Zoey can hear shuffling on the other side of the door.

"Come in"

Zoey pushes open the door and walks in, Rumi is sitting at her desk with her laptop out.

She tilts her head and eyes the laptop. "Whatcha doing?"

Rumi smiles and spins her chair to face Zoey. "I just got done talking to someone"

Zoey nods slowly before plopping down on Rumi's bed.

She hasn't been in here since Rumi first moved in, the rooms nice, plain but nice.

"Why don't you have posters up?" Rumi turns her chair to face Zoey again.

"I don't have any"

"what!?"

Zoey's eyes widen and she leans forward, Rumi sinks back in her chair and crosses her arms.

She looks a little embarrassed "I didn't think it was that big of a deal" Rumi laughs.

"Of course it is! you don't even have any stuffed animals" The more Zoey looks around the room the more she notices that Rumi doesn't have anything.

Besides dressers, a lamp and a bed she has nothing. "Jeez Rumi, are you a minimalist?"

"I guess so" Rumi mutters, Zoey looks around the room with a new intent now.

She looks over at Rumi and smiles, Rumi returns the smile. "We'll have to go shopping sometime to change that!"

Rumi's smile falls immediately and is replaced by a frown.

She holds her hands up and starts to shake her head. "No, that's okay Zoey, really I'm fine with what I have. I don't want to spend your money"

They stare at each other for a good second before Zoey burst out laughing.

Rumi stares at her confused. "did?.. Did I say something funny?" She asks softly.

Zoey is flat against Rumi's bed, squirming and laughing, she shakes her head.

"No! No!" Zoey tries to talk while laughing and it doesn't work; she just ends up laughing harder.

"Oh god, just give me a second" Zoey puts her arms over her head, she takes a few deep breathe. "Wow, that hurt my ribs"

She pops up and meets Rumi's gaze, she looks nervous, Zoey gives her a sweet smile.

"We'll be using Miras money not mine, so don't worry!" Rumi blinks a couple of times.

She tilts her head and sighs. "That doesn't make me feel any better, It's okay really. I don't need new stuff."

"And I have my own money anyways" Zoey lets out a whine and plops back down against Rumi's bed.

A small smile falls onto Rumi's face as she watches Zoey.

"Mira wouldn't mind! I promise Rumi, just let me spoil you"

"It wouldn't be you spoiling me it would be Mira since it's her money" Zoey sits back up and pouts at Rumi as she groans.

Rumi looks back at her unimpressed. "Do the specifics really matter all that much, Rumi? What's mine is hers and what's hers is mine!"

As if on cue the two girls hear the front door open, Zoey turns her head and quickly stands up "Oooo she's home with lunch! I'm starving"

Zoey runs out of Rumi's room; she locks in on her target (Mira) from the hallway and starts sprinting towards her.

Mira puts the food down and turns around just in time to see a small blur of limbs running towards her.

Zoey doesn't slow down as she gets closer, in fact she does a little jump and latches onto Mira, her arms are locked around Miras neck.

Mira has to grab onto Zoey's waist and hold her up, so she doesn't take her down on accident. "Hi baby, what'd you get?"

Zoey tilts her head innocently as if a few seconds ago she wasn't about to run over Mira.

"I didn't want to go too far so I just got some McDonalds" Mira looks up and sees Rumi walking down the hallway, she stands up straight and gently untangles Zoey's arms from her neck.

Which of course makes Zoey whine. "Hey, Rumi. I didn't know what to get you, is a ten-piece chicken nugget okay?"

Rumi smiles and nods happily. "Yeah, I love chicken nuggets"

Mira turns to the food before stopping, she looks over at Zoey. "Wait, how'd you guys know I was home so quick?"

"We heard the door open" Mira looks between the two then down the hallway from where Zoey ran from.

With a thoughtful pause she continued. "You guys heard it from Rumi's room?"

Zoey and Rumi nod.

Mira raises an eyebrow and grabs onto Zoey's waist; she looks over at Rumi. "The walls are pretty thin; I can usually hear the door open or sometimes hear you guys talking if you're loud enough"

Zoey frowns as she sees Mira stiffen, she looks down at Zoey with a weird facial expression that Zoey can't figure out.

"What?- Oh.." It suddenly hits Zoey, the walls are thin, like a decent amount, so that means if they were to...

Zoey's face goes red, and she does a dramatic turn towards Rumi to try and see if she caught on to what they're talking about.

Mira gently pinches Zoey's side.

"What?" Rumi looks between the odd acting couple; they look like statues from how stiff they are.

Zoey shakes her head and points towards Rumi's room. "Mira, we have to use your money and take Rumi shopping."

Mira looks at the hallway and frowns. She looks down at Zoey with a raised eyebrow. "What? Why does it gotta be my money? And for what?"

Zoey grabs onto Miras hand and drags her down the hallway.

Rumi is quickly walking after them. "Zoey it's fine, really!"

Zoey doesn't pay attention to Rumi though she stops directly in front of her room and points. "Look Mira, look at how empty it is."

Mira walks into the room and starts to look around, her eyebrows furrowed as she hums.

"Oh, I see what you mean. We'd be spending money on posters and stuff, right?" Mira asks in a serious tone.

Zoey walks in next to Mira, Rumi is standing just outside of her room with her head in her hands.

"Yeah, look at all the potential! We can't let this go to waste." Zoey immediately copies Miras serious tone.

The two keep looking around the room, they add in every thought they have about it, humming and nodding when the other speaks.

"A poster would look so cute here"

"Yeah! Like a shark poster"

"Does Rumi even like sharks?"

"Doesn't matter, oooo look! Stuffed animals would fit perfectly there"

Rumi lifts her head and peaks through her fingers before sighing; she lets her hands drop.

"Guys, could we maybe stop trashing on my room and eat?" Zoey meets Rumi's eyes and sees looks nervous or embarrassed maybe.

Zoey then looks over to Mira and she nods. "Yeah, I'm starving"

The three girls get situated on the couch with their food.

Mira put on an actual good horror movie and Zoey's almost dropped her drink five times.

"I swear Zoey do not spill on this couch" Mira sends her a warning glare and Zoey rolls her eyes.

"Well maybe if you didn't stop moving every other minute, I would be able to hold onto my stuff" Mira sticks her tongue out.

Zoey holds her hand up and looks away, her eyes land on Rumi who is on the other side of the couch. Her phone is close to her face and she's shaking her head.

"Here hold this" Mira grabs Zoey stuff without an argument and watches as Zoey slides over to where Rumi is.

"Hi Rumi!" Rumi jumps before smiling at Zoey, she opens her mouth to talk but a guy's voice suddenly cuts her off.

"Is that one of your roommates? Please take my cat! I can't have him-" Rumi quickly ends the call. Zoey quickly reaches over and yanks the phone out of Rumi's hands.

She stretches away from her and holds the phone out as far as she can "Did that guy say we could take his cat?"

Zoey squeals as Rumi tries to climb over her to get her phone back. "Mira help!"

Rumi calls out desperately as Zoey wiggles out from under her, making Rumi slid off the couch.

Mira looks to Zoey who's standing up with the phone in her hands already trying to call the dude back.

then to Rumi who's halfway off the couch staring at Mira with helpless eyes.

A smirk settles on her face. "I like cats"

"Fine, Zoey give me my phone back so I can call Jinu-"

The phone clicks open as Zoey puts in the right passcode, she looks up from the phone disappointed.

"Really Rumi? 1235?" Rumi's face goes red as she stands up quickly.

She brushes down her sleeves and grabs the phone from Zoey. "it's easy to remember..."

"Bless your heart" Zoey looks over to Mira and giggles.

Rumi frowns, her eyes stay glued to her phone as she calls Jinu back.

He answers after the first ring. "Desperate much?"

Is the first thing Rumi says to him, Zoey can hear him groan, well she can barely hear him over all the sneezing and meowing in the back.

"Yes very. Do you hear this? can you take the cat or not?"

"Yeah, we can!" Zoey chirps up as she settles into Miras side with a bright smile on her face.

"Okay, perfect! I'll be over soon" He hangs up, Rumi shoves her phone into her hoodie pocket before joining the two other girls on the couch.

Zoey slides over to Rumi and settles in next to her. "His name was Jinu, right?"

Rumi turns to look at Zoey and tilts her head. "Yeah"

"So, how'd he get the cat in the first place?" With a sigh Rumi let's her head fall back against the couch.

Zoey follows suit and looks over at Mira to pat the spot next to her before turning her attention back to Rumi.

Mira leans her body weight into Zoey, now all three girls are pretty much cuddled up at the end of the couch.

Mira and Zoey leaning into each other and Rumi while she stays as stiff as a board. "He's stupid, not funny stupid like actually stupid"

Rumi stops and pinches the bridge of her nose like even the mere thought of Jinus stupidity pains her.

"And anyways, I think the night before I moved in here, he got super drunk and bought or maybe stole a cat?"

Rumi shrugs. "I don't know which one, could be either like I said he's stupid."

Jinu gets there after a few minutes, Mira was the first one to answer the door due to her being the closet.

He looks a little surprised to not see Rumi, but he hands the cat over.

"Hey, I'm Jinu, you must be Mira-"

"Yes hello, goodbye." Mira shuts the door on Jinu and Rumi gasps.

She puts a hand over her mouth as she tries to hide her laughter. "Mira! that wasn't very nice!"

Mira shrugs and turns to Zoey as Rumi walks past her and opens the door to a very confused Jinu.

Zoey only pays attention to the cat.

The very stupidly cute blue cat.

"Oh my god! he's blue!"

Mira hands over the cat to Zoey.

She stares down at the cat. talking to it in a very high pitch baby voice. "Wellarentyouthecutest?ohmysweetbaby"

No one can understand exactly what she's saying, Zoey herself can't either.

But the cat is so stupid looking that she can't even focus, she doesn't look up when she hears the door shut.

She doesn't look up when she hears Rumi and Mira talking.

She does look up when Mira forces her over to the table to eat their dinner.

Zoey pretty much inhales it before going back to the cat.

She doesn't look up when she feels the couch dip two different times.

She doesn't look up when she hears movie after movie play.

She doesn't look up when footsteps walk off into the hallway.

She does look up when Mira starts talking.

"Zoey, baby. it's 9, you've been playing with the cat all day. Let's go lay down"

Mira pauses for a second, looking down at the cat in Zoeys arms. "Without the cat, Jinu said he wasn't potty trained."

Zoey whines and looks up at Mira with puppy dog eyes. "Just a few more minutes, please?"

Mira sighs with a slow nod. her eyes turn sharp as she holds a finger out to Zoey. "Fine, but don't stay up too late."

"Okay, thank you!"

Zoeys eyes go back down to the lazy blue cat in her lap but are forced back up by Miras fingers holding her chin.

"Kiss" Zoey immediately obeys; she quickly leans forward to meet Miras lip with a soft sigh.

Mira taps her chin as she pulls away. "I mean it, not too late."

----------------------------------

Mira wakes up cold, she turns to try and pull the smaller girl in for warmth but the only thing there is a pillow.

"Zoey?" Mira grumbles.

When there's no reply Mira turns over and grabs her glasses off her nightstand, she rubs the sleep out of her eyes.

Even with her glasses on everything is still slightly blurry from just waking up.

She does her best to read the alarm clock next to her bed.

12:24 AM.

Mira frowns as she sits up, she pulls the blanket off her lap.

She shuffles her way to the living room, ready to drag Zoey back to their bed but what she sees makes her stop.

Zoey is cuddled up to the cat on the couch shivering slightly.

Mira can hear her teeth chatter.

She sighs and walks quieter to the couch now.

She gently lowers herself down onto the couch behind Zoey and wraps her arms around her.

Mira can hear the cat's soft purrs.