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The door to the apartment opened a minute after the bell rang. It was past midnight and the boy was still dressed the same way as when he had arrived from work. On the other side of the threshold, standing in the grimy hallway and barely illuminated by the light coming from inside, the girl was wearing an oversized shirt as a nightgown and old shorts despite the cold weather.
"Ga..Gabbie?" he was surprised.
"Heeeeeyy, what's up," she said in a mood way too cheerful for the time, bouncing on her heels, "did I wake you?"
"Eh... no but... what are you doing here?"
"Is that how you're welcoming me?"
He was speechless for a second, between confusion and embarrassment. "Sorry but... Did we make any plans I forgot about?"
"Nope, I was just bored," she replied simply.
The boy glanced warily over to the door next to his'. Without giving him time to ask, she shoved him softly with her shoulder and got inside.
"Wanna do something?" she asked.
"Uhm... sure, like what?"
"Dunno, go out or something," she said while plopping down on the old sofa.
"...Honestly," he scratched the back of his neck, "my liver is still recovering from last time. And my wallet."
"It wasn't that bad," she scoffed. "We don't have to do anything crazy, we could just go down to that bar around the corner, it always has seating outside."
"The one that's probably a money laundering front cause it's so cheap?"
"Damn, even that is too much for you?"
She meant to make it sound as a joke but it was clear his lack of interest had bothered her, and the boy immediately regretted it.
"Sorry, I didn't mean—"
"You could try coming up with something as well."
There was a moment of complete silence between them. While the girl picked at her nails, appearing unbothered, anxiety rose in the boy's throat.
"You told me you had rented some movies yesterday, right?" he managed to grab from his memory. "We could watch them on your tv."
The girl opened her eyes widely for a second but immediately recomposed. "I don't really feel like being..." she lowered her voice without realizing, "being cooped up in my apartment."
The boy nodded, pretending he hadn't noticed that.
"Hey, you know if you need anything..."
"It's fine," she cut him off, her voice coming high pitched through gritted teeth in a tense smile. She rubbed her hands on her thighs. "What I need is to know if you want to do something or not."
He looked at the floor when answering. "I... I don't know. I'd already assumed I'd stay in today, and I'm waiting for some photos to develop."
"Oh Yanchu, you should've started with that." She rolled her eyes and stood up. "Alright, I'll leave you be."
"Nono, I'm not trying to kick you out."
"But you don't wanna go out."
He made a vague gesture with his hand as if that explained anything.
"If I wasn't so feeling so pumped, I'd tell you to fuck off," she sighed.
"I don't blame you," he chuckled under his breath.
"C'mon, yeah, we went out last week, but what have you done since, aside from going to work?"
She gestured to the mess of papers and mugs on the table. The boy looked at the photos of abandoned buildings he was cataloguing and the dates he'd written down on notebook next to them, they were all from last month.
"Alright, what about... I come with you to your apartment to pick up some clothes—"
"No need," she interrupted. "I left some stuff here the other night."
"Okay." He shook his head with a smile. "You get changed, and give me 10 minutes so I can shower and tidy up." He put his hands on her shoulders. "But warn me where the hell we're getting into before we pay for the entrance."
She couldn't help letting out a burst of laughter. "Deal." She followed him with her gaze as he walked into the hallway, considering something, tapping a finger over her lips. "Would it bother you if I read something while I wait?"
"From my library?" he answered from the other room. "If you find anything that catches your interest."
The girl giggled, running her fingers over some tomes on the bookshelf closest to her.
"Wow, you have a lot of books on the occult."
