Something Amiss (Hoodie x Reader)

Thirty Seven: Flickering

TW: the ptsd of losing your mum at the mall

(unedited)

"What the actual fuck are you doing, Brian?"

You'd awoken in Brian's bed on this crisp Tuesday morning, in somewhat decent spirits for once, managed to do some laundry without waking the guy and even made him coffee - because when the hell did you ever wake up before him, anyway? - only to walk into the kitchen post-shower to find him putting the milk in before the cereal.

He only glanced up at you blankly. "You want some?"

You gave his cereal a pointedly disgusted glance. "Not like that, I don't."

He sighed. "Like what, (y/n)? Use your words."

Scoffing at his sarcasm, you gestured exaggeratedly at the bowl on the counter before him. "You're joking. You're actually joking.", was all you could splutter out.

Brian only shot you a playful frown as he got a spoon out of one of the drawers. Having just got up, his hair was tousled and he was still in sweats. His caffeine dose probably hadn't kicked in, he wasn't ready to engage with you yet. Yet here you were, and you were livid at the idea of someone unironically making cereal in the wrong order.

You could only stand and watch in disdain as he began to eat. Surely, surely, Brian had stalked enough people at 7am to know that it was the socially acceptable thing to put the milk in second.

After only a few bites, the man put the spoon down with a soft clink. "...we're out of bread, is that what's wrong?"

You were becoming more disturbed by the minute. Brian wasn't being condescending or playful, he genuinely didn't know. You'd never seen the guy be so damn clueless.

"Brian."

He tilted his head at you, brows furrowed and sweetly concerned. "What?"

"Nobody puts the milk in before the cereal."

He blinked a few times. "Seriously? That's what's bothering you?" He turned back to his breakfast, "Jesus, don't scare me like that."

Adorable. You softened, smiling at him, pulling out the stool across from where he stood. You were still going to bitch about it, though.

You tutted at him as you sat down, leaning your elbows on the counter. "No, really. There's whole subreddits about this shit." As you spoke, Brian began to grin.

"And I suppose you spend all your free time reading them, hm?" He chuckled to himself.

'Spent' may have been the better choice of wording there. You'd only got so bored as to scroll on random-ass subreddits in class a handful of times. Mostly in high school, back when you could get away with doing so and not have your scores suffer dearly. You grimaced at the thought of the expensive-ass psychology degree you'd most likely never get to finish. Although, you would be considered missing by now so it wasn't like you'd be needing to pay off your student loans anytime soon. You promptly shook off the notion, resting your chin on your hand.

"Well." Brian finished his poorly assembled meal, turning to put the bowl in the (leaky) dishwasher. "Do you want to come get groceries with me?"

You sighed, watching him pensively from across the kitchen. That was a very good question - considering your constantly feverish and cloudy minded state, you didn't really feel well enough for an excursion. Though, you hadn't left the apartment complex in a long while, and a part of you was dying to experience the cooling weather. And since the day on the roof, your 'symptoms' of instability hadn't flared up too badly - besides waking up from night terrors, you'd been pretty okay.