Chapter 6 Roommates
Sharing a Home
The phone call came just after nine on a rainy Tuesday morning.
Jamie had been editing photographs from a café shoot while sipping his second cup of coffee when his phone vibrated across the dining table.
Alex.
Jamie smiled automatically before answering.
"Good morning."
A tired sigh greeted him from the other end.
"I think my apartment hates me."
Jamie frowned.
"That doesn't sound like a good morning."
"It definitely isn't."
"What happened?"
Alex let out another exhausted breath.
"The property manager called while I was driving to work. Remember the pipe that burst the week I moved in?"
"Of course."
"They finally opened the wall to replace everything."
Jamie waited.
"There was a lot more damage than they expected."
His stomach tightened.
"How bad?"
"They found mold inside two walls and underneath the flooring."
Jamie sat up straighter.
"Oh."
"The whole apartment has to be stripped down."
"For how long?"
"The contractor said at least eight weeks."
Jamie blinked.
"Two months?"
"Maybe longer."
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Alex sounded more disappointed than angry.
"I just finished making the place feel like home."
Jamie understood that feeling.
Home wasn't built overnight.
It was created one small routine at a time.
"Where are you going to stay?"
"I honestly don't know."
Alex laughed without much humor.
"Hotels are expensive, furnished rentals are booked for weeks, and my office isn't exactly designed for sleeping."
Jamie looked around his own apartment.
The spare bedroom had been untouched for months except for the occasional photography equipment and a neatly made guest bed.
The answer seemed so obvious that he spoke before giving himself time to overthink it.
"Stay here."
Silence.
Then...
"What?"
Jamie smiled.
"Stay with me."
"I can't do that."
"Why not?"
Alex hesitated.
"Because I'd be invading your space."
"You wouldn't."
"It could take months."
"I know."
"You'll get tired of me."
Jamie laughed softly.
"I highly doubt that."
Alex still sounded uncertain.
"Jamie..."
"You have a perfectly good bedroom waiting."
"I can't ask that."
"You didn't."
Jamie leaned back in his chair.
"I offered."
Another pause.
"I don't want to become a burden."
Jamie smiled to himself.
"You've never once felt like a burden."
Alex sighed.
"I should probably keep looking."
"You can."
Jamie kept his voice gentle.
"But if you don't find anything, my offer isn't changing."
Alex remained quiet for several long seconds.
Finally he spoke.
"...Are you sure?"
Jamie didn't hesitate.
"Absolutely."
Another small silence followed.
Then Alex laughed quietly.
"I don't know how to thank you."
"You already have."
"I have?"
"You trusted me enough to say yes."
By the end of the afternoon, Alex officially accepted the offer.
The property manager arranged temporary access to the apartment so Alex could collect clothing, work equipment, and personal belongings before the renovation began.
Jamie insisted on helping.
When they unlocked Alex's apartment later that evening, the place barely resembled the comfortable home it had become over the past few months.
Plastic sheets covered the furniture.
Several sections of drywall had already been removed.
Large industrial fans hummed loudly while the smell of fresh plaster filled the air.
Alex stood quietly in the living room.
"It looks worse than I expected."
Jamie gently touched his arm.
"It'll be beautiful again."
"I know."
Alex looked around.
"I just didn't think I'd lose it this quickly."
Jamie understood.
It wasn't really about the apartment.
It was about having to start over again.
They packed mostly in silence.
Alex filled suitcases with clothes while Jamie carefully wrapped dishes and packed books into storage boxes.
When Jamie reached the bookshelf, he smiled.
"You finally finished unpacking everything."
Alex laughed.
"And now I'm packing it all again."
Jamie held up a framed photograph Alex had taken during the cabin trip.
It showed everyone laughing around the fire pit.
"I forgot you printed this."
Alex looked over.
"It was a good weekend."
Jamie smiled.
"It was."
They continued packing until the apartment looked almost empty again.
As Jamie zipped the final suitcase closed, Alex looked around one last time.
"I'll miss this place."
"You'll be back before you know it."
"I hope so."
Jamie smiled warmly.
"In the meantime..."
He picked up one end of a heavy box.
"...you've got somewhere else to be."
The trip across the hallway took less than a minute.
Yet somehow it felt like crossing into a completely new chapter of their lives.
Jamie opened his apartment door.
"Welcome home."
Alex laughed.
"It still feels strange hearing that."
Jamie accepted one of the suitcases.
"It won't for long."
The spare bedroom overlooked the same tree-lined street as the rest of the apartment.
Jamie had already changed the sheets, added fresh flowers to the bedside table, and cleared out the closet.
Alex looked around.
"You did all this today?"
Jamie shrugged.
"I wanted you to feel comfortable."
Alex slowly set his suitcase beside the bed.
"It feels like a hotel."
Jamie immediately frowned.
"No."
He looked around thoughtfully.
"It should feel warmer than a hotel."
He disappeared for a moment before returning with a soft knitted blanket.
"My grandmother made this."
Alex accepted it carefully.
"I can't take something that important."
"You aren't taking it."
Jamie smiled.
"I'm sharing it."
Alex gently folded the blanket over the end of the bed.
"Thank you."
There was something about the simple room that made the knot in his chest loosen.
Not because it was luxurious.
Because someone had prepared it with care.
Later that afternoon, Jamie left Alex to unpack while he headed toward the kitchen.
He tied on his favorite apron and began washing vegetables.
Whenever life felt uncertain, cooking helped him think.
He decided on roasted lemon chicken, herb potatoes, grilled vegetables, and fresh bread.
Comfort food.
Food that quietly said everything words sometimes couldn't.
Halfway through chopping onions, he heard a loud metallic clatter.
Jamie looked up.
"Everything okay?"
Alex's voice echoed from the kitchen doorway.
"Depends."
Jamie laughed.
"That doesn't sound promising."
Alex opened one of the lower cabinets beneath the sink.
"The left hinge is loose."
Jamie blinked.
"I've been meaning to fix that."
Alex smiled.
"I noticed."
"You don't have to."
"I know."
He grabbed a screwdriver from the small toolbox he always carried in his truck.
"But it'll bother me every time I see it."
Jamie shook his head, smiling.
"You really can't help yourself."
"No."
Within minutes, Alex had removed the cabinet door, tightened the hinges, adjusted the alignment, and reattached everything.
He tested it once.
It opened smoothly.
"It should stay that way now."
Jamie closed the cabinet several times.
"It feels brand new."
Alex shrugged.
"It only needed a few adjustments."
Jamie looked around the kitchen.
"I've lived here for three years."
"And?"
"I kept forgetting to fix that."
Alex smiled.
"You had other things to do."
Jamie looked at the neatly repaired cabinet.
"And you fixed it without being asked."
Alex leaned casually against the counter.
"You've cooked hundreds of meals for me."
Jamie laughed.
"I don't keep score."
"I'm starting to think maybe we should."
Jamie smiled warmly.
"I don't think relationships work that way."
The word slipped into the conversation so naturally that neither of them immediately noticed it.
Relationship.
Not romance.
Simply the connection between two people who quietly took care of each other.
Jamie returned to seasoning the chicken.
Alex automatically reached for the cutting board and began slicing potatoes.
No discussion.
No assignment of responsibilities.
Jamie stirred the sauce while Alex set the table.
Jamie checked the oven while Alex filled two glasses with water.
They moved around each other effortlessly, as though they'd shared this kitchen for years instead of only a few hours.
The apartment felt unusually peaceful.
Outside, rain tapped softly against the windows.
Inside, dinner cooked in the oven while quiet music played in the background.
Jamie looked across the kitchen at Alex tightening the final screw on the cabinet handle.
He smiled to himself.
Living together was supposed to feel like a major adjustment.
Instead...
It already felt surprisingly natural.
Everyday Marriage
The first week of living together passed with surprising ease.
Jamie had expected at least a few awkward moments. He imagined disagreements about shared space, forgotten towels on the bathroom floor, or accidentally disturbing each other's routines.
None of it happened.
Instead, they settled into a rhythm that felt as though it had been waiting for them all along.
Every morning began almost the same way.
Jamie usually woke first.
The apartment remained quiet except for birds singing outside the balcony doors and the soft hum of the coffee grinder.
He enjoyed those peaceful minutes before the day officially started.
They reminded him of mornings spent with his grandmother, when the kitchen had always been the warmest room in the house.
He prepared coffee exactly the way Alex liked it without needing to think about measurements anymore.
Large mug.
Black coffee.
One extra shot whenever an important meeting waited on the schedule.
By the time Alex wandered into the kitchen, usually with damp hair and a sleepy expression, breakfast was already halfway finished.
"You know," Alex said one morning while accepting his coffee, "I'm beginning to suspect you're trying to spoil me."
Jamie smiled as he flipped pancakes onto a plate.
"I thought that happened weeks ago."
"It definitely did."
Alex took a grateful sip.
"I just wanted to officially acknowledge it."
Jamie laughed.
"You're welcome."
After breakfast they naturally divided the remaining chores without ever discussing them.
Jamie packed lunches while Alex washed the dishes.
Jamie watered the plants while Alex took out the recycling.