Accidentally Roommates

Accidentally Protective

Eleanor woke up the next morning with an aching back. This must have been what it felt for Chidi every morning, she supposed. He was still asleep by the time she woke up, having to sneak into her bathroom to change and do her face. She slurped down veggie Cup Noodles before heading out.

It was fucking miserable having to wake up at the crack of dawn every morning. Why in the Hell did her boss make her do this? Oh, yeah. She needed money.

She had also needed it right now to pay Chidi's half of the rent, who was struggling with handling his share after he had used all of it to pay for Pevita's lavish requests. Every night she would come home exhausted and grumpy, and every morning it would be the same routine. No time to get lunch, only work, work, work. All. The. Time.

Why her, though? Why was she always the one that got pushed for extra hours?

Because she was voted the best salesperson five years running.

The short girl sighed and put on her sneakers, stumbling out the door on her way to the shitty beat-up truck she owned. It took twenty minutes to get to the train station and twenty more to get to her stop, then five minutes to walk the rest of the way.

As she was saying, it was a pain in the ass.

No time for coffee or lunch, just work, work, work, and her horny boss and annoying coworkers didn't help much either.

It was seven in the morning by now and Chidi was teaching his class when he felt something vibrate in his pocket. His cell phone, he guessed. His lecture was nearly over and he waited until dismissal time to check it out.

It was Pevita.

And it had appeared she had texted the wrong number.

Pevita: You little bitch, you're a worthless piece of garbage. You ruined my face and stole my bf. Not like that second part matters, but STILL. I'm gonna find you and crazy murder you.

Chidi shook his head in dismay before tucking it back into his jeans' pocket. How in the world had he found interest in that girl?

He knew Pevita would never follow through with accusations like this but figured he should talk to Eleanor at least. Maybe they could sort things out together.

But then again, his roommate didn't come home until after midnight. She would be way too tired to be prodded with questions about his ex-girlfriend.

The only time the blonde had any free time was on the weekends, which she spent sleeping in and going out for drinks with Tahani. He felt bad for her, as he knew she was only taking up the extra hours because of him. She was currently paying his half of the rent, which was very generous of her. Not that she would admit it, though. The blonde found it better to do nice things without anyone noticing. It made her feel weird when people pointed it out, so he had been quiet about his gratitude.

Eleanor came home from work at exactly 2:03 in the morning. She kicked her shoes off and entered her bedroom, plopping down on it without taking her clothes or makeup off. All she managed to do was plug her phone in and tuck herself in.

Then, three hours later, she woke up and got ready for work. God, she was so damn sleep-deprived, and it had only made her angry personality worse if that was even possible. She looked at herself in the mirror, sticking her tongue out at her reflection. Lazily, she threw on a shirt and hooked her bra atop it, not noticing it at all. She put her jacket on then headed out the door, only to be stopped by Chidi.

"This is- this is ridiculous." He said, grabbing her wrist and leading her down to the couch, "You can't keep doing this, Eleanor. Only getting three hours of sleep each night is very unhealthy."

"Do I look like I care?" She said with an extra amount of rage in her tone, "We need money, idiot."

"We have plenty of money." He confirmed, "I promise. You're overworking yourself."

"Well, duh."

He lifted her up bridal style, much to her protests and laid her in her bed. Gently, he removed her shoes and tossed them on the ground, as well as her jacket.

"Rape." She shouted, pushing him off the bed, "You're tryna have sex with me?"

"No, no!" The Professor protested, "I was just trying to help you get more comfortable."

"Tomato, Potato."

He raised an eyebrow then shut off the lights, about to close the door behind him when he heard the front door slam shut.

Eleanor lifted her head up, wiping away some drool and joining Chidi at the front door, "What's going on?"

The man instantly stepped in front of her, "Eleanor, go back to bed."

"What am I, three? What's going on?"

"Hey there, sweetie." A familiar voice greeted, and the blonde just rolled her eyes.

"What are you doing here, bitch?"

The woman smirked and neared the shorter girl, only to be blocked by Chidi. He laced a hand through Eleanor's and stared up at his ex without an ounce of fear in his eyes.

"Hiding behind your new beau, huh? Oh, Ellie, I thought you were braver than that. Tell me, are you afraid of me?"

"Ha! That's a good one." She chuckled, "Now, mind answering what you're doing here?"

"See this?" Pevita asked, pointing to a cut on her face, "You did this to me. You ruined my face!"

"Oh, it was already ruined before I touched you." The blonde said with an extreme amount of sass.

The girl gasped and made her way over to the shorter girl, raising her hand to slap her before Chidi stepped in, taking it for her.

"What the fuck?" Eleanor shouted, looking up at him, "What the...why would...I don't.... Gah! Pevita!" Still holding the man's hand, she stepped forward and opened the door, "Get out."

"Excuse me?"

"Get out of our apartment. Now."

"You can't talk to me like tha—"

"Shut up." The blonde ordered, eyes flickering down to the girl's key ring hanging on the loop of her jeans. Reaching down, she yanked the house key off of it and pushed the girl out of the house without another word.

That'll be the last of her.

Brushing her hands off, she turned around to face Chidi, "You moron." The blonde shouted, trying to hold back her worried tears, "You freaking idiot!" She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a hug, one he gave into quickly.

"Don't you ever pull shit like that again, you hear me?"

"I was just trying to help!"

"Yeah, in the stupidest way possible! Why do you have to be such a clueless idiot all the time? Huh? I thought teachers were supposed to be smart!"

She stomped into her bedroom and slammed the door shut, making Chidi jump. He smiled at the closed door, recognizing this as Eleanor's funny way of being worried (but not wanting to admit it).

Eleanor's anger came in very different tones.

When she was concerned, she'd sound something like that.

When she was happy, she'd shout compliments at him followed by the usual 'I hate you!'

When she was sad, she'd be crying extremely hard and yell at him for looking at her and asking what was wrong.

Eleanor was a very sweet girl, yet she somehow managed to hide her emotions with anger.

Was this what Tahani meant before? Was Eleanor really coming around, finally?

Oh, goodness he hoped so.

Because he had to admit, he was starting to like her as well.

As friends, of course.