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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?"
"Ehm... 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, clearly anxious.
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 to a park."
"This late? Gabbie, it's not like we have pokemon to keep us safe."
She seemed to shrink slightly at that comment 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, trying to appear 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.
"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. "But do you want to do something or not?"
He looked at the floor when answering. "I don't... I don't know. I'd already assumed I'd stay in today, and I'm waiting for some photos to develop in my room."
"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 like trying to explain something he didn't have words for.
"If I wasn't so tired, I'd tell you to fuck off," she sighed.
"I don't blame you," he chuckled under his breath. "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 we go down to that bar around the corner? It usually has seating outside."
"The one that's always open?" She quirked an eyebrow.
"The one that's probably a money laundering front cause it's so cheap, yeah."
She considered it for a couple seconds, tapping a finger over her lips. "And can I take some book from your library?"
The boy shrugged. "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."
