Truth Be Told

five

f i v e

Colin wakes up to the smell of French toast.

That alone wouldn't be alarming for other people, but for Colin, who is living with not one, but two full grown fuckers who are both absolute shit at cooking, the thought is quite jolting.

There's laughter, too, he realizes. He rubs his eyes and stretches, hearing the muffled voices from beyond his room. He's thoroughly confused at first, but then his eyes catch the neat pile of folded sheets at the foot of his bed and he remembers.

Sadie.

The details come to him in sharp focus; how he brought her home and snuck her in (it didn't really involve a lot of sneaking; Perry and Drew are both heavy sleepers) and let her sleep on the floor next to his bed (well, not really the floor itself—he lent her some thick sheets and a spare pillow).

She fell asleep almost immediately. Despite Colin clearly having better, more comfortable sleeping conditions, he was the one who spent nearly half the night tossing and turning before finally falling asleep. Her presence always unsettled him, even when she was unconscious.

Now he's almost afraid to see what she's up to. He forces himself out the room and, sure enough, she sees her sitting on the floor with his two friends, all of them holding plates of their own, huddled over Drew's laptop.

They have their backs turned to him and don't notice him until he clears his throat.

"Hey, Colin," Drew says before lazily looking back at the screen.

Sadie looks over her shoulder. Their eyes meet and Colin feels his face grow hot. She stands up, and Colin's first instinct is to take a few steps back.

"Hey," she says. "I saved these for you."

She holds out a plate to him, but Colin just looks at the plate and its contents before lifting his wary eyes back to Sadie's.

"What's this?" he asks her.

"Breakfast. She made us breakfast," Perry replies from where he's sitting. "We're keeping her."

"Mm-hmm," Drew seconds.

Colin blinks, still confused about the whole thing.

"Come on," Sadie coaxes. "I spent all morning keeping Drew from eating these. Do you have any idea how difficult that is?"

"Mm-hmm."

He ignores this and instead repeats his question. "What the fuck is this?"

"I made breakfast," she replies. "And I know you're not the sharpest tool in the shed so it might not be obvious to you, but right now, I'm giving you your share, and you're supposed to take this plate from me. Can you manage that, sweetie?"

Colin's ears prickle at her tone. "I'm not eating those."

"I'll take them," Drew pipes up, turning back to them. Colin can almost see the guy's figurative tail wagging excitedly as he looks up at Sadie with hopeful eyes.

"No," Sadie says firmly, talking to Drew the way a person would normally talk to a dog. Jesus Christ. "These are for Colin." She turns to him. "Come on. It's the least I can do. Thanks for helping me out last night. And for letting me stay here until I find a new place."

"What?" Colin says just as Perry goes, "It's really no problem, Sade."

"Mm-hmm."

"What's really no problem?" Colin asks.