The living room and kitchen were an absolute mess.

When Kaitlyn reached the base of the stairs, she was greeted with the wreckage of the previous night's party. Red plastic cups littered every surface, a few of them on their sides in half-dried puddles. Used paper plates bearing half-eaten pizza or partial crusts filled in the gaps of what would have been empty space. Groups of mostly-empty liquor bottles cluttered the main table where they'd been set the night before, forming a small-scale open bar.

She shielded her eyes against the too-bright sunlight peeking through the blinds and glanced around the area. Vinny lay splayed out on the couch, his mouth ajar. A thunderous sound ripped through the room in a steady cadence as he snored.

Looks like I woke up before everyone else. A wave of relief washed over her. Thank goodness. I won't have to suffer through their cooking again.

Scurrying toward the kitchen, she shifted the mostly-empty pizza boxes and plastic cups aside to clear some space on the stove. Then, she started rooting through the pantry and fridge.

Let's see... She frowned at their selection. Geez. I forgot how little they have here. Is it really just eggs right now? Eggs and stale bread?

It was something. Eggs and toast wasn't a half-bad breakfast. She could even go the extra mile and make egg-in-the-hole toasts with the little bit of butter they had. But she wanted something more.

Hmmm... Kaitlyn checked through the pantry one more time, drinking some water as she did. They don't have any syrup or jam. If they did, then french toast would be awesome. But without those, or at least something sweet to go with it...

A lightbulb went off in her head. They didn't have baking supplies here, that she already knew. But they hadn't cleaned up yet, and she recalled seeing some cinnamon-sugar dessert pies last night...

Stepping toward the leftover pizza boxes, she peeked inside until she found what she was looking for. Half a dessert pie remained, its surface covered in a thick layer of cinnamon sugar and icing. More of the overly-sweet topping lay scattered within the box itself.

...Well. Beggars can't be choosers. This stuff doesn't go bad anyway, right?

She pulled the dessert out and got to work, quietly pulling pans and bowls from the cabinets. It took a moment to re-familiarize herself with the kitchen -- unsurprising, given how long it had been. But despite the relative lack of equipment here, she found herself right at home.

It's different from Scarra's kitchen, she thought as she began whisking eggs, some cinnamon topping, and a little bit of dark rum together with a fork. That one's got just about everything, but it's not MY kitchen. As much as I love using it, I'm cooking whatever he needs me to cook. But just having a space that I can use to make anything I want... It's awesome.

It really wasn't her space, she knew that. But she also knew that so long as she shared her food, Vinny and the guys wouldn't care what she did. Heck, she could probably start her own restaurant here and no one would bat an eye.

Actually… that's not a bad idea. I wonder if I could?

She set the thought aside for later. After soaking the pieces of toast with the egg mixture, they went into the pan to cook on the stove. The smell of fresh french toast filled the kitchen, eliciting a loud rumble from her stomach.

Kaitlyn froze. She glanced over to the couch where Vinny still lay, uncertain whether the sound had woken him up. But no, he was still fast asleep.

Shrugging, she scraped the leftover cinnamon-sugar topping into a pan with some butter to work on the sauce. Eventually, the sound of footsteps from above reached her ears. The tall and tanned figure of Chris peeked around the corner, rubbing his eyes blearily.

"Mornin'." He yawned. "Who're you?"

"Hey, Chris." She gave him a small wave as she set the stove on low. "Kaitlyn. I'm a friend of Vinny's."

"Oh, cool." He stepped into the living room, looking around as he stretched. "I was wondering why he was on the couch. You cookin' or something?"

"Yeah. French toast. Figured we could all use a pick-me-up after last night."

Chris chuckled. "Yeah, fair enough. It got me out of bed, at least. Smells good."

"Thanks." She smiled. "Hopefully I didn't wake you up."

"Nah, I needed to start cleaning up anyway." Chris joined her in the kitchen, squatting in front of the sink to pull out a few garbage bags. "Besides, it'll get the stale beer smell outta here."

They continued working in silence after that -- Kaitlyn finishing up breakfast as Chris tossed the remains of last night's party in the trash. Eventually, the other roommates began waking up to join them as well.

"Yo!" Ryan called on seeing Kaitlyn. His hair sat in a messy mop atop his head. "I remember you!"

"Hey, Ryan." She nodded in greeting, her hands occupied holding plates of french toast. "Good timing. I just finished breakfast."

His eyes widened in surprise. "Damn. She's cute, AND she cooks? Can we keep her around?"

Kaitlyn blushed. Again with the cute thing. What the heck, Ryan?!

Instead of making right for the table, Ryan walked over to the couch and kicked it. "Yo! Food!"

Vinny's snoring abruptly stopped, only to be replaced with a string of grumbles. "Fuck, the hell you wakin' me up for? Lemme sleep, dammit!"

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Ryan shrugged. "Hey, I tried! More for me I guess."

"More of what, burned eggs?" Vinny's nose twitched and he cracked his eyes open a hair. "The fuck? Did you order out or somethin'?"

"Yeah, right." Ryan snorted as he headed to the table. "For breakfast?"

"Then the hell is that smell?" Vinny sat up, holding his head with a groan. "Cuz you sure as fuck didn't make it."

"Hey, I can cook!"

"No you can't." Vinny and Chris both chorused in unison.

Ryan looked between his roommates with a look of profound betrayal. Kaitlyn couldn't help but giggle at the exchange.

"Who the--?" Vinny looked up with surprise. "Oh. You're still here, huh?"

"Yup." Kaitlyn set down some clean paper plates and took a seat at the table. "I made french toast. Want some?"

"That's what that is?" Vinny mumbled as he stood. "Sure. It can't be worse than what I'm used to."

The group settled around the table, piling their plates high with the food. Chris eyed the cup of brownish liquid that Kaitlyn passed around. "What's that?"

"Syrup, kinda." Kaitlyn shrugged. "You guys didn't have a lot for me to work with, so I had to improvise."

"That ain't suspicious at all." Vinny muttered. Still, he poured the stuff all over his pile of toast before digging in. His eyes went wide. "The fuck?"

Kaitlyn stopped, her own slice midway to her mouth. "What? Not good?"

"Didn't say that." Vinny glared at the toast as though it had personally wronged him. "Just… confused."

Glancing around the table, Kaitlyn saw that Ryan and Chris had nowhere near the restraint that Vinny did. Both were in the process of madly shoveling food into their mouths as fast as possible.

Dang. I knew they liked my food last time, but you'd think they'd never eaten an actual meal before. Is it really that good?

Kaitlyn took a bite of her toast, eyes widening in surprise. It was good. Really good. The flavors blended well, the consistency was fluffy without being too soggy, and she'd avoided making the mix taste overly eggy. It wasn't her best, of course, but better than she'd expected given what she had to work with.

Huh. Go figure. She frowned. Still... this is a way stronger reaction than I got last time. Have I really gotten that much better at cooking?

Vinny spoke up again, picking up the impromptu syrup. "What did you put in this? Booze?"

She blinked. "Yeah, actually. You didn't have vanilla or anything, so I used some, uh, dark rum. I thought it might go well with the cinnamon sugar. It's not much though."

Vinny snorted. "Huh. Surprised we even had any left."

They ate their breakfast in silence, except for the sounds of chewing and occasional groan of satisfaction. Eventually, Ryan let out a satisfied sigh. "Oh, man! That was damn good!"

"Glad you liked it." Kaitlyn grinned. "Sorry for using your stuff, but..."

"Nah, no worries." Chris waved her off. "It was worth it."

"I'm telling you guys, we gotta keep her around!" Ryan urged. "She can cook! This is like, restaurant quality shit from nothing!"

"I'm right here, you know." Kaitlyn suppressed another laugh. "I'm flattered, though."

Vinny snorted. "She's got a damn life, you know. Just cuz she made us breakfast doesn't mean she's a friggin' maid. 'Sides," he turned to look at her. "Don't you got classes or a job or some shit, girlie? What're you still doing here?"

"Hey now!" Ryan crossed his arms. "You're gonna scare her away!"

Kaitlyn paused. That's a good question. What AM I doing here?

Obviously, she'd stayed the night after the party. That wasn't the issue. The real question was, what did she plan to do now?

I could just get a ride back to campus. I'm sure they wouldn't mind taking me home. But... do I want to go? Or do I want to stay here for longer?

Assuming they would let her stay, of course.

"I didn't really have a ride home," she answered honestly. "But... I dunno. I don't really have anywhere to be, either. Would you let me stay if I wanted to?"

"The fuck would you wanna stay here?" Vinny snorted. "You're a student, right?"

"Yeah. At Hartland." She admitted.

"Hartland? Classes start this week, don't they?" He eyed her skeptically. "You're not already gonna be a dropout, are you?"

"...No." Kaitlyn sighed. "But honestly, the classes don't do too much for me at this point. I can get away with just going to the exams."

I don't even need to do that, but... whatever. It's easier to explain.

"That just ain't fair." Ryan crossed his arms. "Vinny, if you're tryin' to sleep with this chick, you better stake your claim now. Otherwise, I might just fall for her."

Kaitlyn's face went beet red as her cheeks flamed. "Ryan! What--?!"

"I'm just sayin'!" He spread his hands and shrugged. "It'd be one hell of a missed opportunity!"

Kaitlyn gaped at the guy, her brain short circuiting. She turned to Vinny for help, but unlike last time, he didn't spring to her defense. Instead, he just shrugged. "I ain't sleepin' with her. Barely know her. The fuck you think I was on the couch?"

"You guys!" She pleaded. "I-I'm not--! That's not--! I'm not interested in--!"

"Really? Damn." Ryan leaned back in his chair. "Oh, well. It was worth a shot. Still, if you wanna stay I ain't gonna complain."

"Me, neither." Chris nodded. "We're kinda used to it, honestly. As long as you help out we won't bug you about rent or anything."

Kaitlyn turned to Vinny. He shrugged again. "What're you lookin' at me for? I don't care."

This is so different from last time. Her head swam. Not only is Ryan hitting on me for some reason, but even Vinny's acting way different. Is it because of how we met?

It made sense. Last time they'd run into each other, Kaitlyn had been a little bit of a wreck. Maybe it made sense for the guy to be protective of her in a situation like that. But now... she was handling herself better than she'd expected.

Though maybe it's because I gave myself something to do. Kaitlyn felt herself wilt slightly. Cooking's a pretty good distraction from feeling like a deflated balloon. Having people to talk to helps, too.

With that in mind... do I still want to stay here? Do I need to? Or am I just falling back on what I did before?

"...I..." Kaitlyn bit her lip. "...I'd like to stay. For a little bit, if it's ok. I'm not sure how long."

"Sure." Chris shrugged. "Dunno where you wanna sleep, but..."

"I can take the couch!" Kaitlyn perked up. Yes! Maybe I won't have to steal Vinny's room this time--

"Nope." He shook his head. "You're gettin' a room, girlie. Not a damn couch. You can use mine if you need."

Kaitlyn pouted as her plan was instantly thwarted. Apparently, not everything was different. "Fine. But I'll sleep on the floor."

"Nope. You get the bed, I'll take the couch."

"You can take the floor, at least?"

"Is that a question?"

"No?"

Vinny sighed with annoyance. "Fine. Though I'll have to clean the damn place up to even find the floor..."

Kaitlyn grinned. "Don't worry. I can help with that."