Jennifer pounded on the bathroom door. "If you take much longer in there, I swear to God I'll-"

"Awww, what was that, Jen?" came Rowan's mocking tones from through the hiss of the shower. "Take my time? That's so sweet of you!"

Jennifer gave a wordless cry of rage and stormed back into her bedroom.

For just over a year, Jennifer and Rowan had re-enacted this exact scenario every single morning. Sometimes the roles were reversed, but the dialogue was always the same. 

Their friends often asked them why one of them didn't simply just move out, but the reason for the two begrudgly staying was the same reason that they agreed to the house share in the first place: they were both completely and totally broke.

As such, Jennifer made the diplomatic decision not to knock the bathroom door off its hinges and wait, seething with rage, as Rowan finished applying a ridiculous amount of hair product. Maybe if she wished extra hard, he'd go bald early.

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***

Two hours later, Rowan muscled past his roommate on the way out of the door, earning him a grumble and an errant middle finger.

He blew her a kiss and dodged the shoe she launched at his head, slamming the door behind him. 

Eating a Pot Noodle he'd stolen from Jennifer's side of the fridge, he strolled out into the street. He'd barely made it four steps out of the door when he heard a strange noise coming from a pile of old newspapers.

He drew closer, cautious of the city-wide rat infestation but still brimming with natural curiosity. 

The thing made the noise again. He frowned. It sounded an awful lot like... 

"A cat?" 

He spun around. Jennifer was there behind him. 

"You followed me?"

"You stole my Pot Noodle, asshole," she scowled. "Come on then, get the trash kitten out."