Roommate!Simon who wakes up in the middle of the night, his chaotic sleeping schedule getting the best of him. Struggling to make as little noise as possible, he exits his bedroom and heads to the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea
Roommate!Simon who stops dead in his tracks when he realises that you must have left the TV on, the blue faint glow of the screen projecting shadows on the wooden floor. He strides towards the coffee table to grab the remote control, when you rise from the blanket you'd been wrapped in, scaring the sh*t out of him
Roommate!Simon who instinctively reaches for the Ka-Bar knife he always keeps in his boot, only to realize that there is no way he could conceal such a weapon in the fluffy slippers he's currently wearing. He rolls his eyes in defeat and throws you a questioning look, the frown on his face deepening even more upon seeing what you were looking at- a Disney Pixar movie.
Roommate!Simon who pretends to be annoyed and keeps grumbling to himself as he heads into the kitchen, but ends up preparing two cups of tea and empties a bag of popcorn into a big plastic bowl
Roommate!Simon who just lays the tea on the coffee table and places the popcorn on the couch, lunging for the blanket that is still wrapped around your figure. You roll your eyes at his fake cold demeanour and lift a corner of the blanket as a silent invitation for him to join you
Roommate!Simon who ends up taking three-quarters of the blanket and eats all of the popcorn while his eyes are glued to the screen. Fighting for the last quarter of the blanket, you can't help but openly stare at his maskless figure, greedily taking in every detail that you can perceive in the faint light emitted by the TV
Roommate!Simon who ends up throwing an arm across the couch, pulling your body closer to his and wrapping the blanket around both so that your head is pressed against his chest. The tea's gone cold on the small coffee table, but it doesn't stop Ghost's eyes from getting heavy, his tired mind relishing in the rhythmic sound of your heartbeat
Roommate!Simon who falls asleep on the couch, holding you fast in his embrace and gently resting his head atop yours as the Disney movie keeps playing in the background. He won't tell anyone, but he hasn't slept that well in a long time.
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Echo Chambers Inside A Neighborhood (ch. 1)
read the rest: masterlist
a/n: thank you to the beautiful @junosbugs for giving me a stellar idea for a forced proximity fic. ily.
They say distance makes the heart grow fonder.
Fucking bullshit. Distance was turning your heart sour.
By the end of the day, he would be back on your couch, probably smelling of cheap liquor and even cheaper cologne. Maybe his hair would be disheveled, as if someone ran their hands through it, or maybe he’d have a lipstick stain on the collar of his hideous grey button-up.
But this was Ethan you were talking about. If anything, he’d go to lengths to cover up his tracks. Try to manipulate you into thinking it was all in your head, as if you didn’t have the proof sitting in front of you.
You happened upon the texts so innocently, yet you weren’t surprised that this had happened at all. And it wasn’t sadness that overcame you at the betrayal, but rather annoyance that you’d put with his bullshit for so long.
“Fuck.” You picked your phone up to see a couple of messages from friends but none from Ethan. But why would he text you? He didn’t think anything was wrong.
You were tired of everything. Your shitty job, your shitty flat, your shitty boyfriend. You couldn’t even muster up the strength to get yourself out of bed this morning, let alone bring yourself to care about how you were gonna pay for said shitty flat once you kicked Ethan out.
But you wanted to be done with him. Here and now. So you reluctantly rolled out of bed and in a split-second decision, started gathering up every one of Ethan’s belongings; clothes, shoes, socks, underwear, his stupid guitar that he didn’t even know how to play, and you dumped that shit on the sidewalk downstairs. Fuck it. People could take whatever they wanted; it wasn’t your problem anymore.
Another few trips up and down the building and now your closet was half empty and you felt a lot better. You sent the incriminating screenshots and a picture you took of Ethan’s stuff on the dirty sidewalk to him, the words ‘It’s over’ trailing along in the next message. You wouldn’t let him explain himself. It wasn’t worth it.
Half an hour later, with your phone blowing up with messages and calls, you sat at your windowsill with a cup of coffee in your hands, staring out at the street below you, quietly observing. You had anticipated Ethan coming back, and as you watched a familiar head of moppy brown hair in an ill-fitting suit charge down the street and into the building, you realized that this was all well and truly over.
The knock on your door a couple minutes later was aggressive, the voice calling out your name and demanding you open the door even more so.
Without haste, you set your mug down on dining table next to you and approached the door, opening it so that only your face could peek through.
“Hey stranger,” you smiled, peering at Ethan’s red face.
“What the fuck, babe!?” he shouted, an octave you recognized well.
“You’re gonna want to keep your voice down, babe. The neighbors might complain.”
“Fuck the fucking neighbors. Why the fuck is all my shit out on the road!?”
You really did try to hold back your laugh. Honestly. But the incredulity of his question stunned you, and you didn’t know how else to respond.
“Am I stupid?” you asked after your fit of laughter died down.
“Huh?”
“Am. I. Stupid?” you reiterated.
“No?” Ethan stood up stalk straight, confused at your line of questioning.
“Ok,” you nodded. “So why the fuck did you think you could make a fool out of me?”
Ethan scrambled for a response, then decided to pull the dumbest one out of his ass. “No, babe. You’ve got it all wrong. That’s not me. I didn’t send those texts.”
“Right, and I’m assuming you didn’t send those videos of you jerking off your shriveled dick to those girls either?”
Ethan’s face paled, a heavy silence sitting in the air as he stared at you. He tried forming words, but you watched as they died a quick death on his tongue.
“I put up with your shit for a long time because I thought I loved you. But let me tell you something.” You leaned your head out the door a little further, as if you were about to let him in on a secret. “Even your parents knew when to cut you loose before you ruined their lives.”
You knew you’d hit the mark when Ethan’s face turned from anguish to fury. His parents cutting ties with him was a sore spot that he still didn’t know how to deal with. And you wanted to twist the knife until it hurt.
“Oh, and I’m keeping the X-Box. I paid for it anyway.” With those final words, you snatched the key Ethan was still holding in his hand and slammed the door in his face. You heard the faint voice of your neighbor echoing in the hallway, to which Ethan said something about everything being fine. And yes, everything would be fine. As soon as the tears stopped falling.
---
‘Room for rent. Urgently need a flatmate. Pls contact.’
You read over the ad to make sure all the pertinent information was listed since you hadn’t gotten any calls about it yet. It’d been up for a week now, and you’d been taking more shifts to hopefully cover the rent for next month in case you weren’t able to find someone to rent the extra room out. That also meant you had less time to spend on school, but finishing your masters was seeming less daunting than keeping a roof over your head. All for a better future, you told yourself as you took a drag of your cigarette.
“’Ey,” Sammy called out to you in his thick Scottish accent as he exited into the back alley where you were taking your break. “Busy day.”
“Understatement of the century. It’s a fucking fish market in there.” With the holidays approaching, it seemed like every family in the city wanted to frequent the restaurant you waitressed at. That meant more work, but hey, it also meant more tip money in your pocket.
“Can I bum off you?” Sammy questioned, holding out his hand for your cigarette.
“Smoke your own.” You reared back. “I’m broke and this is the only luxury I allow myself.”
Sammy chuckled and shook his head, pulling out his own pack. You watched the cloud of smoke exiting your lungs, taking solace in the shapes it formed as it dissipated in the air.
“Oi, by the way,” Sammy interjected after a few minutes of silence. “My cousin’s son ‘as a colleague who’s looking fer a new living arrangement in the city. Passed on yer number to the lad.”
"Really?” A sudden rush of relief coursed through you. You seldom felt so stressed out, even when you were working your way through undergrad. But now, it was starting to feel like if you didn’t get your shit straight, you’d have to drop out of school and move back home. And you couldn’t do that.
You had contemplated calling your mom a few times, but you doubted she had any money herself. It all probably went to the liquor and pills anyways.
“Thank you. You’re a life saver.”
“Sure. And just so ya know, the offer still stands.”
You shook your head. “Thank you, Sammy. But I can’t take your money.”
“It’s just a loan,” Sammy shrugged, taking a pull of his Marlboro.
“I know.” You dropped the remainder of your cigarette on the ground and stubbed it out with your shoe. “But I don’t like owing people anything.”
Sammy chuckled again, but thankfully dropped the subject. You couldn’t even bring yourself to borrow money from your mother, let alone a coworker.
Checking the time on your phone, you let out a long groan. “I’ll see you back in there.” You headed back into the restaurant, the warm air surrounding you like a blanket and the smell of steak making your stomach grumble. You should’ve opted for a snack instead of a smoke.
The rest of your shift was a lot of the same, all fake smiles and rancidly sweet customer service voices. Running back and forth and back and forth, putting on your best act so you could get a decent tip. It was exhausting. You hated every second of it, but you weren’t in a particularly good mood these days.
When it finally came time to close, the Maître d’ allowed you to leave early per your generous request to be there bright and early next morning to help set up.
The walk home was frigid, the December air chilling you to the bone and turning your nose pink. It wasn’t a long walk back to the flat, but you were always cautious of your surroundings, holding your purse tight to your body and keeping a fast pace.
In your rush to get back to your bed, you almost didn’t notice your phone buzzing in your pocket. Against your better judgement, you took it out and saw an unfamiliar number flashing across the screen.
“Hello?” you said into the phone. The person on the line didn’t reply, so you pulled your phone away to see if the call had connected.
“Yes, sorry.” A gruff voice finally spoke up as you brought the device back to your ear. “My name is Simon Riley. I got this number from John. Said you were looking to rent out your room?”
“Oh, yeah. Hi.” You didn’t know why your voice was coming out flustered. “It’s still available, if you’re interested.”
“I am. Very much.”
You chuckled at the bored tone of his voice. He sounded anything but.
“Um, okay. Did you want to come see the place or something? See if it’s the right fit?” You suggested it to be polite, but really, you wanted to see this man to gauge whether he was the right fit. You could deal with messy, noisy roommates, but you would not let an unknown man share a space with you before deciding you were comfortable with him.
“Sure. Tomorrow?”
“Sounds good. I’ll text you the address.”
“Alright then.” With that, the line went dead.
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