The Coffee Date

Chapter 13 - Meet Roommates

It smelled different.

That was the first thought that entered her mind the next morning.

Tired, brown eyes pulled themselves open to survey the scene, only to study the unfamiliar sheets beneath her. The smell, the gentle hum of the heater, that phone ringtone.

Nathan.

The brunette sprung out of bed with a squeak of embarrassment. Before she could too badly thrust herself into a fit of red cheeks and flustered speech, the previous night flooded back into her mind.

They had been working late; that she remembered. Nathan had ushered her into his room to sleep, and he assured her that he would work. Her shoulders relaxed. Right, everything somehow made sense again. Everything was normal, nothing was weird. For now at least. Hopefully.

Slowly she began to emerge from the room, first hearing the faint voice of her partner mumbling to someone on the other end of the phoneline. It felt so odd sauntering into a different house in the morning. For years she had woken up in her own, lonely apartment. Now, it felt like too big of a thrust into change. But, in a weird way, she didn't mind.

It was somewhat soothing to wake up to someone bustling around instead of the daunting silence she was used to. That, and of course, Lily clawing at her empty food dish. It was nice to be greeted by a smile rather than a crushing reminder every day that her parents were no longer around to wake her. The silence that loomed in her apartment was suffocating.

Nathan's eyes darted up from the phone base to see the awakened brunette take slow steps out of the comfort of his room. He shot her a sweet smile - filling her lungs with air - before hurriedly ending the call and slamming the phone back to its charging station.

"Morning." He cooed happily, spinning into the kitchen and placing his now-empty cup of coffee into the sink.

Hazel's eye scanned the room for any signs of change. The pictures against the coffee table seemed rather shuffled, mixed and matched into a different arrangement then when she first placed them. Everything else seemed to be as it were. The coffee maker rattled with use and groaned with exhaustion. They had been using it constantly for the past 7 hours. The thought snapped her head up to attention. Then to the worn couch. Then to Nathan.

It was obvious he was tired. His messy hair, wrinkled clothes and dry eyes said it all. He had slept on the couch, if he even slept at all, just so she could sleep with ease. So she could drift away knowing her worries were being tended to by someone else. Someone else was taking the weight off of her shoulders for one night and placing them on their own.

He slept on a couch, worked late, exhausted himself, for her.

He turned to her, flashing his normally classy smile with a hint of fatigue glistening in his eyes. If she hadn't been gazing into them for days straight she wouldn't have noticed a difference at all. But today, she did. Maybe that was why his head tilted at her stare. She darted her head away and forcing a small smile.

He smirked. "I have some good news." He said softly, brushing his hands on his pants and starting closer to her. Her gaze slowly fixating back to his orbs. "That was the lab." He smirked, he couldn't seem to help it. He knew she was going to love the news. "The results came back from that DNA test we asked for. Whenever we're ready we can head down there and get a copy."

Her eyes blinked in amazement. Swirling in interest and awe at the excitement he felt in the moment. He seemed genuinely thrilled at the idea of getting closer to their goal. It felt almost as if he was as eager to get answers as she was. That it itself was a genuine thrill for herself. Someone else in the world gave a damn if her parents ever got justice. Everything seemed to be coming together. "That's amazing! Let's get going!"