Roommates (BBrae AU)

Lockdown? Why?

Raven

Not saying I'm a very judgmental person, but the moment I met Garfield, I was pretty sure I'd hate him forever. He's a vegetarian, he's a prankster, and he's loud. Too loud. He never shuts up! He's also got a lack of respect for personal space. And I need my personal space,

"Rae, did you see this? The whole city's going on lockdown," Garfield says, watching the news from the floor in our living room while I was just trying to watch Pretty Pretty Pegasus on my laptop in peace.

I roll my eyes,

"Don't call me that. And lockdown? Why?" I ask,

"Some dude escaped from prison or something. Apparently he's a bad mamajama," he replies, his eyes glued to the tv,

"Oh,"

He looks up to me on my spot on the couch,

"'Oh'? This is scary right? How are you not scared?" he asks, his eyes wide.

Ugh, is he seriously about to cry?

I sigh,

"As long as we follow all the rules and don't go outside, we'll be fine," I say, not looking away from my show,

Two minutes. Two minutes of uninterrupted watching is all I get before Garfield's obnoxious ringtone blares across our tiny apartment,

"Oh, shit. It's my mom," he says, getting up and going to his room.

I realise that I'm not going to be able to watch my show without Garfield being a pain so I decide to go to the balcony and have a cigarette. I know what you're thinking, 'why don't you just watch in your room, Raven?', yeah well, this shitty apartment's wifi only works in the living room, so both me and Garfield pretty much live here. Our rooms are left neat while the living room's a mess.

Great.

I light my cigarette, exhaling the smoke through my nose. I know, I know, smoking's a bad habit. Bite me. Even here in our balcony, I only get peace for about two seconds before I hear the sliding door open,

"Hey, I'm out. Can I bum one of yours?" Garfield asks, standing beside me as he leans his forearms on the balcony railing.

I sigh but still hand him my pack and the lighter. After lighting his cigarette, I'm surprised by how quiet he is. He's just staring into the horizon, watching the sunset,

"Uhh, you okay?" I ask.

Trust me, I don't know why I asked either,

"Yeah, um. My mom saw the news about the escaped convict. She can worry a little too excessively, I don't want her to be going crazy until this guy gets found,"

Okay, that was kinda sweet...

"What about your dad? Wouldn't he be able to ease her mind?" I ask out of curiosity,

"He left us before I was even born," he says,

Oh.

"Sorry," I mutter,

"No worries. I've never even met him so I don't feel bad about it. And beside, my mom's the shit," I actually laugh at that. Like really laugh.

He looks at me, his face shocked,

"Did... did you just laugh?"

I roll my eyes,

"Don't get used to it,"

Now it's his turn to laugh,

"Trust me, I won't,"

Silence.