4.

It was a little after 9 a.m. when she woke up. She laid in bed for over an hour, debating on what to cook and whether she should also prepare breakfast for her flatmate. She heard her come in late last night at around 2 or 3 and she could just guess how she's feeling after a long night of partying.

After some more mental ranting, she finally got out of bed, refreshed and wore her large shirt with some spandex tights and slipped into flip flops. Then she went to the kitchen and started making some waffles with ham and salad dressing on the side.

She heard the other girl's door open and the shower turn on so Kárri figured she'd have a cup of coffee already waiting for when she comes out. It should help with the hangover.

***

He woke up with a terrible headache, making him promise it was the last time he was drinking ever again. He popped a Cataflam pill in his mouth and jumped into the shower. After feeling sober, he dried off and applied some moisturizer.

He threw on knee-length shorts and socks with slides. When he finished, he stepped out and walked into the kitchen, freezing in his steps when he locked eyes with a girl from across the counter. He tilted his head and cleared his throat, running through ways as to how he was gonna get her to leave before his flatmate woke up.

"Hey, where did we meet last night?" he asked, wondering where he must have picked her up from. How drunk was he that he didn't even remember their night together. When she gave him a confused face he continued, "Freddy's? Jim's? Was it the casino, maybe? I can call an uber for you."

"Oh, no. No-no," she said dismissively when she realized what he was talking about.

"What do you mean?" he asked softly, looking over his shoulder and to his flatmate's room. He was sure he would come out anytime now, and he certainly didn't want to make the wrong first impression.

He looked back at the girl and wondered how stoned he was last night that he came back home with her. She was not his type. He went for long and dark-haired girls who screamed 'I'm ready if you are'. This caramel blond haired girl had well-trimmed shoulder-length hair and her energy screamed 'Don't touch me'. She definitely wasn't his type.

She placed a hot mug of coffee in front of him and watched him take a sip. "I live here now," she said. He immediately chocked on the hot liquid, his abrupt movements making the coffee spill onto his hand. He groaned, trying his best to carefully place the mug down as he swallowed. She held in a chuckle.

"No," he said under his breath, getting the cloth and cleaning up. When he focused on her again, she had on a poker face. "Nothing against you, really. I was just expecting a guy, that's all."

"You definitely were," she agreed. "Waffles?"

"Thank you," he accepted and immediately dug in. She quickly left the kitchen to get her notebook. He watched her walk away, wondering how they'd make this work. He wasn't looking forward to sharing his living space with a female again. The last one he had in high school became a total-

"We need to draw up some rules and responsibilities," she cut through his thoughts.

He froze, trying to see if she's serious but the way her green eyes held his captive let him know she was more than serious. "Of all things girls have said to me in the morning, that has never come up."

"I wonder what the first thing you say is," she sighed. He watched how her face focused in her book as she flipped through pages. He caught a few glimpses of the custom-made charts and colored tables.

"Cute book," he teased as he stood up and rinsed his plate. She only nodded with a tight-lipped smile to acknowledge his compliment.

"Use the dish washing soap," she said as she started writing the date on the paper. "Name?"

He took the bottle, reading the name of the green thick liquid. "Damascus."

She started scribbling but paused. "Your name is Damascus?"

"Oh, mine?" he chuckled, putting the bottle down and the dish on the rack to dry. She laughed softly, shaking her head. When he took a seat opposite her again, she went back to her stone-hard, bored expression.

"Denver, what's yours?"

"Kárri. So, Denver, these are just a few rules I drew up last night," she informed him while ripping a copy out and laying it in front of him. He sat back and listened. "First up, in order of most offensive to least offensive we have no smoking in the flat. I take no exceptions to this. Even if your weed is medicinal, you will go outside."

"What about in my bedroom?"

"Gas particles move from an area of a higher concen-"

"Okay, moving on," he interrupted, motioning with his hand for her to carry on. He was enjoying this because it was the first time having such a well organised room mate.

She gave him a look but proceeded nonetheless. "Do not leave your belongings lying around the place other than in your bedroom. This includes clothes, shoes, bags, books, gadgets and even food."

"What happens if I leave food laying around?"

"I'll throw it out," she said, raising a challenging brow to which he nodded. "Do not leave dirty dishes in the sink. If your friends come over you are responsible for any mess they create, which includes any damage done to my belongings or that of the flat. Only spend a maximum of 15 minutes in the bathroom at a time.

Do not spill alcohol on the absorbent furniture, and in the rare case that you do, immediately have it dry-cleaned. More so, do not leave your empty bottles laying around in places other than your bedroom," she said, pointing to the empty beer cans on the coffee table. He smirked, remembering parts of the previous night.

"You should have joined us," he said with a small shrug.

"No, thank you," she dismissed as she paged through and jotting down a few things. "We will rotate cleaning responsibilities and I can provide the equipment. I noticed you don't pack any furnishing oil and window cleaning detergents. Do you perhaps have them in your bedroom?" she asked, to which he shook his head. "That's alright. We can also rotate cooking days," she paused. "You do know how to cook, right?"

"No," he said sarcastically, but she didn't catch it.

"Okay then, you are on cleaning up duty. Please make sure to always rinse the dishes with clean water. I watched how you didn't rinse the soap off your plate," she pointed with her thumb to the plate he washed that is now drying on the rack. He nodded in understanding.

"Do not have friends over on weekdays. However, if for special reasons they do stop by, a maximum of 30 minutes is allocated inside, so that's in your bedroom or wherever. This is to allow the other to have adequate time and silence when doing our schoolwork. But they're free to hang around outside all day."

"You'll do the same?"

"But of course."

"How many friends do you have?" he asked, grinning. She bit her lip, narrowing her eyes at him. She didn't want to admit she didn't have any.

At least not yet.

Been like that for the last two years, but who's counting?

"What if I want to hang out with my bros on a Monday evening over a soccer match or video game? You know, stuff you do with friends," he smirked when his comment caused an eye-roll from her.

"I don't think I stuttered," she said. She hated that he was enjoying the fact that she didn't have friends. "On weekends they may be around from 11 a.m. to midnight. Do not, for whatever reason, go into my bedroom without my consent. If I'm around, you may knock before entering. If I'm not around, you wait until I am."

"Can't I call you if I need something from your room?"

"What of yours would be in my room?" she asked, tilting her head back and putting her hand on her hip.

"What if I need to borrow something, like a stapler or an eraser?"

She thought about it for a second. "I'm not giving you my number for reasons other than that," she warned, sliding her phone across to him. He also slid his to her.

"No booty calls?" he teased.

"No."

"You're no fun," he laughed, watching her closely. He could have sworn she almost smiled.

"I've been told."

"Are we done?" He asked, returning her phone as she did his.

"Yes. I'll let you know when anything else comes up. These were just at the top of my head. Anything from your side?"

"Just one," he said, leaning towards her over the counter. She didn't move back and watched as his face came closer, his nose barely touching hers. She noticed how smooth his face looked and how his blueish iris had a ring of green around them.

"Don't walk around here half-naked," he said, giving her a once-over. "I'm a guy. I will stare shamelessly. And maybe soon I might be inclined to do more than just staring," he said, staring at her lips for a second before leaning back and smiling innocently.

Repulsed, she leaned back and scoffed. "And what makes you think I would allow that?"

"I've had female room mates before," he said. She noticed he had a faraway look in his eyes as he said that. After a few seconds, he cleared his throat and looked down at his fingers intertwined. "It gets complicated when room mates fall in love."

She felt a twitch in her stomach. "Are you speaking from experience?" she asked, trying to lighten the mood. He clearly thought of a sad memory.

He looked up at her and smiled genuinely. "Yes, yes I am. And I do not wish to repeat that."

"Well, you're not my type, so you don't have to worry about that."

He laughed loudly, holding onto his stomach. She couldn't help but chuckle as she watched him. She noticed that his eyes crinkled when he laughed. She stared at him for a second longer, looking away when he calmed down and wiped the corners of his eyes.

"It's funny because that's what they have all said, and one of us ended up falling. But you seem different, so I'll bet on that, Kárri."

She knew that he was being sincere. She gave him a friendly smile and bowed her head as she collected her stuff and practically sped off to her bedroom.