"It's a good thing Leila had an extra room," Julian remarked as he carried a cardboard box alongside Mia up the steps to Leila's—or Mia guessed her apartment. "I don't think I would've been able to convince my mom to let you stay with us."

Mia only half-smiled, not wanting to admit that if that had been the only option, she would've probably gone back to New York and crashed on a friend's couch. Still, she was thankful everything had worked out. The past week with Abby had been tense, but Leila graciously let her move in as soon as possible, meaning Mia had all her things boxed up by the end of the week.

The door opened before Mia could even knock. Leila stood in the doorway, a smile on her face. Mia was quick to notice the way her grin gradually dropped once Leila saw Julian. Abby used to make the same face whenever Mia brought him home. Quickly, a smile was back on Leila's face, as if she'd never frowned to begin with.

"Hey. Um, this is my boyfriend, Julian," Mia said. "Julian, this is Leila. We knew each other as kids."

"Nice to meet you," Julian said, straining his neck to look at Leila from behind the box he was carrying. "I'd shake your hand, but..."

"No worries. Come inside," Leila said, stepping away from the doorway.

Mia carefully stepped into Leila's apartment and set the box down on the kitchen countertop. Leila's apartment was more spacious than the one she and Abby had been living in. The floors were all hardwood, the furniture looked new, and the countertops weren't old and stained. The sun filtered in through the large, opaque windows, allowing an abundance of natural sunlight in the living room. Though there was no ocean view from the patio, the view was nicer than the street view Mia had in her old apartment. Mia had to guess the apartment complex had been recently built. It made her feel even more guilty for intruding on Leila's space after she had worked so hard to earn this place.

"I realize you've never been here before," Leila admitted, noticing Mia's awe. "Let me show you your room," she said.

As Mia and Julian navigated down the hall, a large gray tabby cat suddenly caught sight of them. The cat let out a hiss and immediately ran into what Mia could only presume was Leila's room.

"Fuji!" Leila exclaimed, chasing after the cat. Mia and Julian peered into Leila's room, where she was trying to coax the cat out from under the bed. Finally, Leila let out a sigh and stood back up. "Sorry. He doesn't like guests so much, but he'll warm up to you in no time, Mia. I'm sure."

Leila glanced ahead at the door frame across from hers. "This room is yours," she said, leading Mia into bedroom slightly smaller than Leila's. The carpet fibers were soft, and like the window in the main living area, the large window in Mia's bedroom allowed more sunlight to stream in.

"Though I'm sure you could've guessed it's yours since it's empty," Leila added. "I can help you guys bring boxes in—"

"That's all right. We've got it," Julian interrupted.

"Oh! Okay," Leila said, seeming surprised.

"It's really not much, just some boxes and a little bit of furniture," Mia assured her.

"Okay, cool. Well, if you do need help, let me know," Leila stated. "Otherwise, I, uh, guess I'll try to Fuji out from under the bed."

Mia nodded, suddenly feeling guilty for not allowing Leila to help. Once she was at work bringing boxes up and down the steps to Leila's apartment, the thought quickly left her mind. Rather, Mia thought that it was nice having a boyfriend to help this time. Mia had never sweated so much in her life when she had first moved in to Abby's apartment in the spring. Her arms had been sore for days afterwards from carrying so much. Trying to put all her furniture together had been a battle as well. Her first night at Abby's had been spent on the floor as she hadn't managed to make her bedframe before her usual bedtime.

Thankfully, she and Julian were able to move all the furniture in and set up her bedroom in only a few hours. The longer summer day filled Mia's room with an ample amount of sunlight, which saved her and Julian from setting up the lamps until later in the evening, when the sun was starting to set.

"I can handle the decorating tomorrow," Mia told him, though there wasn't much to decorate save for putting up some of her illustrations on the walls.

"You sure?" Julian asked.

"Yeah. I'll be fine," Mia assured him. She leaned forward to kiss him until a faint knock interrupted her from doing so.

"Come in," Mia called, pulling away from Julian.

"Um, I ordered some pizza if you both want any. I know you've been working hard all day. I figured it was the least I could do," Leila explained.

"Ugh, sounds great. I'm starving," Julian complained.

"Thanks, Leila," Mia said.

"And great news," Leila continued as they headed into the kitchen. "I finally got Fuji to come out and eat dinner, so maybe you two can finally meet—" As soon as the words left her mouth, Mia watched the cat dive under the couch and hiss.

"Or maybe not," Leila lamented. "Fine, Fuji. Stay under there if you want." She turned back to the two of them. "Pizza's on the counter. I just got cheese and pepperoni, nothing fancy."

As Mia went to grab a plate that Leila had left near the counter, she realized Leila had bought from the pizza place that Mia had ordered from a few weeks prior.

"Are you going to grab a slice or not?" Julian asked, noticing Mia's hesitation.

"Yeah. Sorry," Mia said, pulling out a few slices out for herself. As she took a seat at the table, Leila shoved a glass of ice water toward her.

"Thanks," Mia said. Julian quickly grabbed the seat next to Mia while Leila sat across from Mia. It felt weird having the three of them sitting at the table together, like Mia's past and future had collided. Mia took a bite of the pizza to distract herself from having these thoughts. She didn't realize how hungry she was until she took the first bite, and then she quickly began to gobble down her meal.

"So where do you work, Julian?" Leila asked.

"Cloud Bar. I've been working there for a few years," he explained with his mouth full of pizza.

"I don't think I've been," Leila recounted.

"You should come. I can get you a drink on the house," he offered.

"I'm not super into bars..."

"I'll bring you one time," Mia interrupted. "After all, that's where I met Julian, so you never know who you might meet!"

Leila looked slightly uncomfortable at Mia's comment, so Mia went back to focusing on her pizza.

"So...you pay for this place yourself?" Julian asked.

Leila nodded. "I work at a PR firm nearby. It took some saving and a couple promotions, but I finally saved up enough to afford a place of my own. Of course, I'm super happy to have you here, Mia! I did kind of miss having roommates."

Mia smiled. "Glad to be here. Thanks again for letting me stay with you for a while."

"Is the room okay?" Leila asked. "I cleaned and everything before you came, but just wanted to make sure..."

"It's fine," Mia assured her.

"There's only one bathroom, but I figure if we alternate cleaning schedules—"

"Don't worry, we can go over all the logistics later," Mia assured her. Her head was beginning to throb from a headache that had begun earlier in the day. That, coupled with carrying and assembling furniture, had made her too tired to think about much else but climbing into bed and getting some sleep.

As they finished dinner, Leila began gathering plates. Mia stood up to help, but Leila quickly dismissed her with a wave of her hand.

"Don't worry about it. You were busy today. We can talk about cleaning and stuff later," she promised.

"Okay," Mia agreed. "Julian, can you help me put the sheets on my bed?" she asked.

Julian nodded, and they headed back into her new room. Despite nothing changing about the furniture or layout, it felt cozier for some reason, and much less like the prison it had felt like when Mia had been living with Abby.

As soon as Mia had finally tucked in the corners of her comforter, Julian collapsed on her bed and let out a sigh.

"Ugh, I'm exhausted," he complained.

"Thanks for your help," Mia said, sitting down beside him.

"Hey, first night in the new apartment! How about I spend the night?" he asked.

Mia stiffened. "No," she said automatically.

"No? It was never an issue when you were staying with Abby," he argued, now sitting up.

"It's my first night here. Leila and I haven't talked about partner rules or anything like that—"

"Partner rules? What, are you a college student? You're an adult. It shouldn't matter who you have over," Julian argued.

"It matters to me. Leila was really nice to rent out this room to me, so I don't want to overstep any boundaries—"

"Well, what if we didn't do anything? Just slept?"

"No," Mia argued again, becoming more irritated. "And you're stupid to think I would've been okay doing anything else my first night somewhere new."

"Oh, so now I'm stupid?"

"That's not what I meant. I just meant it wouldn't hurt to be considerate." She shut her mouth to prevent saying anything more, but suddenly the words slipped out. "You didn't even thank Leila for dinner."

"Yeah I did."

"Did not," Mia argued.

"Why do you care so much what Leila thinks? You didn't give a shit about what I said or did when you were around Abby."

"That was different. This is...a-a friend," Mia managed to get the words out. "Someone who I care about more than Abby."

"What does that mean? I never get to spend the night?"

"No, that's not—"

"No, I can't ever stay over?"

"No, as in, I don't know yet. Look, we're both tired, and my head hurts. I think it's time for you to go home," Mia stated. "I'm tired of arguing."

Julian grumbled and got up from Mia's bed. She awkwardly walked with him toward the front door, hoping that Leila hadn't overheard their argument. Thankfully, Mia found her sitting on the couch with the television on. She hoped the sound of whatever cooking show she was watching had masked their argument.

"Oh? Heading out, Julian?" Leila asked.

"Yes," he grumbled.

"Well, nice meeting you," Leila said, quickly turning her gaze back to the show.

"Thanks for your help. I'll text you," Mia told Julian. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. It was milder compared to their usual good-bye kisses, but Mia was still irritated with him.

"See you," Julian said, clearly huffing as he headed down the steps.

Mia sighed and shut the door behind him. Behind her, Leila spoke up.

"Everything okay?" she asked.

Mia spun around and froze. "Yeah. Of course."

"Oh. It sounded like you two were arguing a little bit," Leila admitted.

Mia must have made an expression of surprise, because Leila continued.

"I didn't overhear anything, promise! Just the tones of your voice didn't sound...friendly," Leila explained.

"It's fine. He's just tired and grumpy from today," Mia promised.

"I see," Leila said.

"Is, uh, Fuji still under the couch?" Mia wondered.

Leila shifted her legs slightly, showing Fuji curled up next to her. "I finally got him out."

Mia approached cautiously, but as soon as Fuji caught sight of her, he let out a hiss. Mia immediately stepped back.

"Hey now!" Leila scolded him. Fuji settled back down and curled back up against Leila. "Sorry. It takes a little bit for him to get used to new people, but at least he isn't running away. He doesn't like men that much, so he's probably feeling braver now that Julian's gone. I'm sure he'll let you pet him one day."

"I hope so," Mia said, taking a seat across from Leila on the couch. "Um, so about partner rules..."

"I don't mind if Julian stays over from time to time. Obviously not every night would be ideal, or else I'll start charging him for rent," Leila teased. "If you could just give me at least a day's notice, that would be nice."

"That shouldn't be an issue at all," Mia agreed. "And, same goes for you, obviously, whenever you bring someone home."

Leila's face reddened. "Oh, uh, I mean I don't really see that happening anytime soon, but thanks. Why don't we talk about groceries?" she asked. "That is if you're not too tired..."

Mia shook her head. Strangely, she felt more alert with Julian out of the apartment.

The conversation was still awkward between them as they began creating a cleaning schedule and setting a grocery budget. The apartment was still foreign to Mia, and it didn't help that Fuji continued to growl at her from the corner of the couch, but as they leaned over the kitchen counter, writing on a dry erase board Leila had bought, Mia looked at Leila and felt safe. She had never felt that way when she was living with Abby.

"Something the matter?" Leila asked, noticing her stare.

Mia shook her head. "Nope. Not at all."

"Oh, good. If you have any questions about the apartment complex or your room or anything, just let me know. I'm looking forward to being your roommate," Leila said.

Mia smiled softly at her. "Me too."