Raunchy Roommate

by Bethany Morgan

"Me too, Dad," I replied sincerely, hugging my father tightly. "I've missed you."

  "Honey? Who's here?" I heard my mother call from the kitchen. She turned around the bend, pulling her oven mitts off of her hands. They immediately fell to the floor when she caught a glance at me. "Anna! Oh my God!"

  "Hi Mum," I greeted, feeling elated by how happy the two of them looked. I definitely made the right choice. She ran towards me to give me a hug as well and planted a huge kiss on my cheek.

  "I'm so glad you came home, sweetie," She told me. "Now, are you tired from that long flight? Because if not then I could really use your help cooking for Elizabeth's baby shower tomorrow."

  "Baby shower?" I repeated for needs of clarification, because I never got an invitation for my future niece or nephew's party. "I didn't know she was having one."

  "Oliver didn't want to tell you because he didn't want you to feel bad since he understood why you didn't want to come home," My father explained, placing a hand on my shoulder. "But now that you're here you can come! You should see Elizabeth, she's about to pop any day now."

  I smiled at the thought. I can't wait to be an aunt. I was going to be the cool, successful aunt that would send them really expensive gifts and have them meet their favorite celebrities. I just hope I would have time to come home often and build an actual relationship with the baby.

  "I need to go buy them a gift then," I decided, grabbing my car keys off the hook on the wall. "I'll be back really soon to help cook, okay Mum?"

  * * *

  Stuart

  "Guess what?" Clayton asked in a sing-song voice, his happy-go-lucky spirit annoying me already.

  I glimpsed up from my phone in irritation, not even cracking a smile. I couldn't help but be in an awful mood. It was three days before Christmas and I was still stuck inside the same cramped tour bus that reeked of sweat and greasy food. I just wanted to be back in my own bed, and I wanted to see my family again.

  "What?" Bradley asked from the other sofa.

  "They found another artist," Clayton stated vaguely, sitting down on a spare chair.

  I furred my eyebrows together. "Who did? What are you even talking about?"

  "The charity concert," Clayton informed us, a smile still evident on his lips. "They found another artist. We don't have to perform. Our flight leaves tonight."

  "What?" I screamed, jumping up from the couch in excitement. Benjamin and Bradley both raised to their feet as well, staring at Clayton in awe.

  "Keagan just called me. Let's get packing boys. We're going home!"

  "Stu!" My mum screeched as soon as I entered through my home early the next morning.

  I grinned, rubbing my tired eyes quickly before wrapping my arm that wasn't carrying my suitcase around her body. "Hi Mum."

  "I'm so glad you boys made it home in time for the holiday. And you can also go to Oliver's baby shower today with me if you want! You're probably exhausted from the flight though, maybe you should just rest," She rambled, still not able to take her eyes off of me, probably thinking about how much older and more mature her son looked now.

  I clenched my jaw together tightly. I had missed Oliver's wedding due to having a gig that night, so I probably should attend to make up for that. It was crazy that he was even having his first child. But Annabel would obviously be there, and I didn't think stirring up the drama would be a good idea on their celebration of their future kid.

  I kicked my shoes off of my feet and left them on the mat adjacent to the front door. "I don't know, Mum. Won't Annabel be there? That's probably not the best idea."

  She patted my shoulder. "No worries honey, Mrs. McKenzie said she wasn't coming home for Christmas this year. Anna won't even be there. And you don't have to either, but it would probably nice for you to see everybody."

  My eyes widened immediately. How could she not be home? The movie had finished filming already and her tweets never mentioned any new projects coming up. I gulped, feeling a new surge of guilt creep through my stomach. "Did she not come home because of me?"

  My mother raised her eyebrows, a sad smile plastered over her lips. "Of course, Stuart. It must be hard for her considering the last time she was in Australia you two were a couple. Maybe it's about time you reach out to her and fix things. You have a long break now, right?"

  "About a month off, yeah," I mumbled, yet my brain was still concentrated on the fact that I was the reason Annabel wasn't spending her holidays with her family. I felt absolutely awful. "Well, now I have to go to the baby shower to apologize to the McKenzie's."

  Mum beamed at me. "That's my boy. You have time to take a nap for now and get settled in. When your dad gets home from work we'll all head over there, alright?"

  Chapter 55

  Annabel

  "You made it!" Elizabeth cheered, running over towards me to pull me in for an awkward hug since her enormous belly was getting in the way.

  I chuckled. "Yeah, I mean I had to come home. I would have felt terrible if I wasn't with you guys for Christmas," I explained, placing my palm on her stomach. "How's the baby?"

  Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "Good, I'm just very nervous. The due date is right around the corner and I feel like it's going to pop out really soon."

  I opened my mouth to reply, but was interrupted by Oliver coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist, lifting me into the air. I laughed loudly, being reminded of how often he did this when we were kids. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming home?" He yelled, although a smile was plastered over his face.

  Oliver placed me back down on my feet. "It's called a surprise. Just like how this little baby shower was a complete surprise to me. Thanks for the invite, Anth," I replied sarcastically.

  He rolled his eyes at me. "Hey, don't call it a baby shower. That would imply naked people or babies falling from the sky or that guys are not supposed to attend. This is a baby party!"

  I laughed at his sense of humor. "Well I put my gift in the living room. I'll let you two go talk to your guests now. I probably should go see the rest of our relatives."

  They nodded, both of them mirroring my expression of a big smile. They were truly one of the cutest couples and I knew they were going to be great parents. I hope someone can say that about me and whomever my future significant other is someday.

  I took a seat on the couch in my brother's living room, plopping down right next to my aunt Megan and her five-year-old daughter, Avery. My aunt immediately squealed at the sight of me and pulled me in for a huge hug, which I gladly returned.

  Avery climbed onto my lap, who I noticed looked completely older now and had freckles speckled over the surface of her skin. I talked to the two of them about my movie and asked them about life in Australia while I was gone.

  In the midst of our conversation, my gaze travelled down the hallway in front of us which led to the front door. I noticed it opening and was intrigued to find out who was arriving late to this "baby party."

  When the figure stepped into the house, I nearly dropped Avery out of my lap.

  It was Stuart. He was currently taking off his shoes, holding a neutral yellow gift bag in his hands, and was dressed in his typical skinny jeans despite the hot weather. My breathing became uneven and I could feel sweat about to continuously pour over my body like Niagara Falls. What on Earth was he doing here?

  "Excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom," I stated rapidly, cutting my aunt off in the middle of her story. I quickly stood to my feet and sprinted into the kitchen, desperately trying to stay out of view and avoid him.

  I didn't want to see Stuart. I wasn't prepared at all. I was still jet-lagged from my flight and I wasn't dressed in a jaw dropping outfit that would make him drool at the sight of me like I had hoped.

  I hid behind the island in the kitchen, ducking under the counter to stay out of sight. My heart was pounding against my chest so loudly that I'm certain it could be heard from miles away.

  "I can't believe you made it, man!" I h
eard Oliver's voice cheer, which gave me the urge to kick him in the balls for his enthusiasm. He should kick him out of his house. I don't want to have to look into Stuart's eyes again.

  Stuart's laughter echoed down the hallway. It still sounded adorable and I hated myself for even thinking something like that. "I know. It's so good to see you. Congrats on being a father, by the way."

  Oliver chuckled. "Hey, I'm not a father just yet. Come on, you must be hungry. There's some food in the kitchen."

  Shit. Goddamn. I'm screwed.

  Their footsteps got louder as they headed towards the kitchen and I began to pant. My palms grew clammy just at the thought of this whole exchange that was about to happen. I was not prepared for this encounter at all.

  "Ann?" Oliver questioned when his foot collided with my crouched body. He stared down at me with concern.

  I pretended to search for something. "I, uh, I lost the back to my earring."

  I sucked in a deep breath before standing up, making direct eye contact with the bewildered Stuart. He dropped his phone right out of his hands in surprise, and he didn't bother to pick it up as his eyes were unable to peel away from me.

  His face flashed with a surprised emotion, and neither of us were able to stop staring at each other, or were able to mumble a word.

  I haven't seen him since the night before he left for tour when he broke up with me. And now here we are, standing in my brother's kitchen with just a kitchen island in between us. He looked good, really good, and his hair had gotten longer and curled at the ends as it rested on his forehead. His eyes were dark and were piercing into my own, most likely in complete shock, and his jawline appeared sharper than ever.

  My hands began shaking and I gripped onto the counter to keep myself from passing out. Neither of us have broken eye contact and Oliver finally let out a cough. "I'm going to go talk to Grandma," He muttered, dashing out of the room.

  "Hi Annabel," Stuart finally spoke, his voice sounding raspy and strained. His pouty lips barely curled into a small smile.

  I tried to reply but I just couldn't say anything. I was frozen. All of our memories together flooded through my mind and it broke my heart knowing how uncomfortable this suddenly was for us. I haven't spoken to him in so long. He could be a completely different person now. I knew I had grown up and matured, and I knew I had finally started to do well on my own and be independent. But now he is back, and my strength might be disintegrating. "Okay, no. I can't do this," I mumbled in frustration, heading out of the room.

  Stuart sighed, reaching out to grasp my wrist and prevent me from moving any further. "Ann, wait. Can we at least talk?"

  I could feel frustrated tears begin to form in my eyes but I blinked to suppress them. "I just- I was doing so well on my own! Why did you have to show up?" I complained, irritation clearly present in my tone.

  His Adam's apple bobbed when he cleared his throat. "I live here too, Ann," Stuart answered, making my heart stop just from hearing him utter my name. "I was supposed to have a charity concert tomorrow night but they found someone else to perform. But I also was told you weren't coming home for Christmas either."

  "Yeah I wasn't going to come home because I didn't want to run in to you, but apparently I'm very unlucky," I spat. I was aware I was being harsh, but I couldn't stop my anger towards him and towards the way we reunited.

  Stuart sighed loudly. "Why are you so mad at me? I haven't seen you in months, Ann. Can we please just be civil with each other and catch up?"

  "Be civil?" I repeated in an incredulous tone. "You completely ignored all of my attempts to talk! You haven't said one word to me since that last phone call. How do you expect us to act like everything is fine when everything is not fine?"

  "You lied!" Stuart yelled defensively. "You lied to me about Jordan."

  "But I apologized! I apologized right away and took complete responsibility for my actions. And I apologized many times. I don't get why you had to cut completely contact from me?" I interrogated. I had no sense of closure when it came to our relationship, and now I was curious on the details.

  Stuart pursed his lips together. "Do you honestly think being in a relationship would have been good for us? Look where we are now!"

  "Well maybe we wouldn't be in this position if you still talked to me! Or forgave me! I don't know!" I screamed, then lowered my voice when I realized how loud we were being in the middle of this party. "Look, I'm glad we broke up. I learned a lot about myself and became independent again. I just wish we could have ended things on a better note, maybe one where we wouldn't be fighting on our first time seeing each other again."

  "Me too. I'm sorry, Ann," Stuart said softly, his gaze switching to the floor. "And I do forgive you for lying. And I hope you have forgiven me for how much of a jerk I was."

  "I do. Like I said, I've grown up and moved on from everything," I stated firmly, standing up slightly straighter. "So if you'd like to be civil with each other, than we can give that a try while we're both home."

  Stuart's eyes glimmered with delight as a hopeful grin spread across his face. I've missed that beautiful smile and the way the crinkles would appear.

  "Okay," Stuart agreed. "I, uh, I really missed you, Ann. It's so crazy to see you again; I never thought I would. Do you think we can catch up some time?"

  This was a complete turnaround from the way our conversation seemed to be heading. I was glad we weren't yelling at each other anymore, but it still felt all too surreal for him to actually be a few feet away from me.

  "Like a date?" I asked, merely for clarification purposes. I wasn't sure if I would want to go on a date with him again, at least not yet.

  He shook his head, a smile tugging on his lips. "Let's not get too ahead of ourselves, Anna. It's only been a few minutes," Stuart said playfully, making me grin at his teasing. "Somehow you've managed to get even more beautiful in this time apart though."

  I blushed profusely and felt oddly ridiculous for reacting to his compliment in such a childish manner. He has said things much more blush-worthy before, but this was new. It was like we were rediscovering ourselves, or our new, mature selves.

  "Thank you," I muttered shyly, glimpsing down at my hands to break free of his watchful eye.

  It felt nice to be in his presence again, after everything that happened. He would always hold a special place in my heart, no matter what happened between us. As crazy as this situation all is, I'm secretly glad that we ended up bumping into each other again. I truly missed him and I was ready to leave the past behind us and attempt to move on from all of the fighting, despite the fact that it was bound to be horridly awkward.

  I licked my lips and opened my mouth to speak, but Stuart beat me to it. "So, um. Do you want to try and like, be friends? 'Cause while we're both home we might as well try and be nice to each other. I really don't want to fight with you anymore, and I'm sorry I wasted so much time doing that before. So maybe we can like start over?" He suggested.

  A small grin appeared on my face. I liked his idea. I was definitely not ready to just jump back into a relationship with him just because we were both in the same place, no matter how loud my lower region was screaming at me to take him upstairs. I was very cautious of what happened last time and I was independent now. I wanted to stand my ground, however, that didn't mean we couldn't give the whole friends thing a try.

  "Alright. Yeah," I responded with a nod, making an excited expression plaster over his face. God, I missed seeing that. "I mean, beings friends totally worked out last time," I added sarcastically.

  Stuart chuckled, swinging his arm around me playfully. I laughed, but he suddenly froze once he realized how touchy-feely he was being with me. It must have been out of habit, like it was completely programmed into his brain, despite how much time we had spent apart.

  He fake-coughed awkwardly and began to slide his arm off of my shoulder. But I wrapped my arms around his waist, surprising myself by my own actions, and gave him a hug. Stuart instantly embr
aced me even tighter, pulling my petite frame closer to his stomach so there was no gap between us. His chin rested on the top of my head and his palms rubbed circles around my back.

  Unfortunately, as much as it pained my independent self to admit this, being in his arms again felt like home.

  "I missed you so much," Stuart whispered, barely inaudible, but I managed to decipher out what he was saying under his breath.

  I wiggled out of his hug, meeting his eyes again, as I was brought back into reality. It was so easy to get caught up in all of this, and that was frightening. "Maybe we should go back to the party."

  Stuart cleared his throat, standing up straighter. His lips were still curled into a grin, and his brown eyes were still locked on me as he nervously chuckled. "Yeah, probably," Stuart agreed. "Will you, um, sit next to me out there?"

  I breathed in deeply. This was the first step to becoming friends and patching up our relationship, in a non-relationship way. "Sure, Stu. I'll sit next to you."

  Chapter 56

  Stuart

  Annabel may be a brilliant actress, but I am not. I couldn't act like I wasn't still in love with her. Because I was. Damn, I really was.

  We broke up because of valid reasons, yes, and maybe the break up was good for the two of us in some senses. But seeing her sit on the couch next to me, as the light from the large window was a spotlight on her beautifully crafted face as she spoke so politely to her family, made me question my brain capacity for ever thinking that letting her go was a good idea.

  I was still in awe that she was even in my presence. I haven't heard her voice or seen her face in months, and to have Annabel placed right next to me felt like a twisted dream. I had the urge to touch her, not even in a sexual way, but just to feel that her body was truly not a figment of my own imagination.

  My hand kept brushing against hers as we engaged in conversation with her family members who were all so eager to hear about our "fascinating" lives. Her hand never retreated, which was a good sign. I would have initially expected her to slap it away. I'm glad her anger towards me was starting to fade away, because the blush on my cheeks from our simple touch wouldn't be fading anytime soon.