y/n: your name

tws: swearing

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y/n's pov *

i bounced on top of my suitcase, trying to smash the contents inside so i could zip it shut. i put all my weight onto it, stomach flat against the top as i tugged on the zipper little by little. after a few minutes of struggling, i finally got it shut and stepped back to take a breather.

i rolled the suitcase— which looked like it was about to explode— next to my other bags. i was taking one other suitcase and a duffel bag with me.

all the important parts of my apartment were tucked away into three pieces of luggage. i couldn't wrap my head around that.

my furniture and collection of knickknacks had been sold or donated earlier in the week. my entire apartment was practically empty now. it was a bittersweet thing to think about.

i had loved living here. it was my first apartment after all. i wasn't as sad about moving as i thought i would be though. maybe it would hit me later that i was leaving this place forever, but right now i was too excited about moving in with my friends.

my first roommates. i was glad nick, george, and clay of all people were getting that title.

i hauled my bags out into the hallway and gave one last look into my apartment. the afternoon sun that filtered in reflected off the wooden floors and cast soft light on my cheeks. i sighed. "goodbye home," i said quietly, and shut the door.

i dropped off my keys at the landlord's office, said goodbye to the grouchy bastard that kicked me out, and took a taxi to the airport.

when i got there, it was immediately chaotic, though i already expected that because i had chosen an afternoon flight. still, seeing the huge crowds of people made me question whether or not i should have pogged through the pain of a four a.m. departure. then again, it would be tough convincing everyone to do that. we had timed our flights so that we could all meet up around the same time.

i checked my bags and filed through security with no trouble. i had plenty of time before my flight, so i stopped to grab chips and a chocolate bar from the convenience store to eat on the plane ride. they didn't last that long though because i had already chowed down on them by the time i reached the boarding gate.

before i got on the plane, i texted clay.

: boarding the plane now :^) see you in a few hours

he responded instantly.

: okay! text me when you get off the plane so i know you got there okay

i rolled my eyes with a smile on my face. he was such a worrywart.

i napped for most of the flight, not concerned about being rude to the person next to me because they didn't show. it was almost like i was in first class.

when the plane landed, it was dark outside. a gentle breeze brushed against my skin, sending goosebumps up my arm, and i tugged the rolled up sleeves of my sweatshirt down to block off the chill, which promptly caused me to sweat. i would have to get used to florida weather.

i followed the crowd of passengers to baggage claim and popped a squat on the floor to wait for my luggage to come down the conveyor belt. i opened my phone to shoot a quick text to clay.

: i didn't die

: or did you 👁👁

: or did i 👁👁

he hearted the message.

: we are officially in the same building right now

: can you sense my presence

: no, thank god

: i'm scared what if you really are an old guy

: i literally turned my webcam on for you wdym : and you're the one with an old politician on your face reveal i should be the scared one

: okay fair enough but i pinky swear i am not albert steinweiser

: you found out his name?!

: no but i felt like i should name the man stealing clout from my google searches you know

: okay albert

: i'm walking to the exit now and i don't wanna get run over by another mob while i'm distracted

: see you soon ;)

: another mob??

i didn't get a response. i shut off my phone and rested my head in my hands, focusing my eyes on the luggage conveyor belt as it looped around. i hoped my bags would come through soon.

twenty minutes later, they didn't show.

confused, i approached one of the workers that had been moving the luggage for help. "excuse me, are there any more bags coming?" i asked.

"nope, plane's empty," he answered flatly, rubbing his stubbled chin.

oh no. "seriously? are you sure there's not anymore?" i pressed.

"sorry lady, everything's been unloaded." he shrugged and walked away, leaving me stunned.

my bags had been lost in travel. "excellent, excellent," i muttered to myself. this was off to a great start.

empty-handed and frustrated, i hauled ass to the airport exit, walking fast to keep up with the crowds. airports were so huge. and was i actually this out of shape? i had a stitch in my side already.

as i neared the exit, i felt a little nervous thinking about seeing clay, nick, and george for the first time. what if we didn't get along as well as we did online?

it was too late to think about that now. i was about to share a space with them. if we ended up not liking each other, things would just be very awkward for a while, and i'd have to suffer through that.

thankfully, my anxious thoughts were immediately soothed when i saw the boys standing together by the exit. three boys and a gazillion pets. i hadn't even considered that they were moving in with us too. this was about to be one full house, and an even fuller car.

"guys!" i shouted and waved as i neared them.

they looked around for a second before their eyes landed on me.

"y/n?" george asked.

"y/n? y/n!" nick confirmed as i nodded excitedly, "you made it!" he was struggling to restrain his tiny dog, which was very eagerly tugging on his leash to get closer to me.

the second thing i did not expect other than the pets was a tight hug from clay. his hand rested on my upper back and sent a chill down my spine. was i actually that touch starved?

when we broke apart, hands still rested on my arms, he looked me up and down and smiled. "hello albert!"

i rolled my eyes with a laugh, looking up to meet his bright green eyes for the first time. he was so damn tall. what use did minecraft men have for all that height?

i bent down to pet nick's dog, who i learned was named cash.

"hello! hello!" i cooed in my baby voice, "you are the crustiest white dog i have ever seen! yes you are!" cash flopped over, and i started scratching his belly.

"hey! my dog isn't crusty!" nick argued.

i looked up at him and raised my eyebrows questioningly.

"okay, he's... he's a little crusty," he admitted after a second.

"y/n, did you not get your bags yet?" clay asked, noticing my lack of luggage.

i laughed dryly. "no, i didn't. uh... it got lost."

"you're joking," george said.

"that sucks, i'm sorry," sapnap added.

"it's fine. i'll just make do tonight and go on a shopping spree tomorrow. at least we'll have less stuff to cram in the car," i reasoned.

"yeah... about that. we may or may not have a really... really tiny car."

i chuckled nervously, looking at all the things we had to transport. "if we need more space i'll strap clay to the roof."

"i— i do not agree to that!" he said hastily.

i eyed him for a second, noticing he was empty handed too. "dude, did you bring any stuff? where—"

he reached behind him and picked up a small duffel bag. "this is my stuff!"

"one bag?"

"i'm a simple man, y/n."

"right, right..." i laughed, rolling my eyes.

the four of us all caught up for a few more minutes and then trickled out into the parking lot to find our car. clay clicked a button on the key fob and the headlights of a tiny red vehicle lit up. we really would be cramming into it.

"shotgun, bitches!" i called, and jogged forward to hop in the front seat.

"aw!" nick whined.

everyone threw their bags in the back and slid into their seats. clay sat in the driver's seat and started up the car, immediately turning up the air conditioning to compensate for the hot air. nick cracked a window in the backseat so cash and dog could stick their noses out, and george pet cat, which he had removed from the carrier and put in his lap.

i fiddled with the music, connecting my phone to bluetooth and shuffling my playlist. the first thing that came on was a one direction song.

"what— she gets shotgun and dj privileges?" nick asked from the backseat.

"suck it," i deadpanned, flipping him off.

george laughed.

clay adjusted the mirrors and turned up the volume of the radio, bopping his head along to the song that was playing. i smiled. he looked so dopey sitting in the tiny car. even though he had lowered the seat, his head was still almost touching the ceiling. and to top it all off, he had started singing along as loud as he could to sweater weather.

i joined in with him.

as he whipped the car in reverse, he pressed his hand against the headrest of my seat and looked over his shoulder to check out the back window. my voice cracked unwillingly in the middle of a verse, and i coughed, staring straight ahead to not look at the veiny hand that was gripping my seat. he was wearing fingerless gloves too. was i actually that easy to woo?

for the next twenty minutes, we blasted music and sang at the top of our lungs. people from other vehicles gave us looks because the bass in our little rollerskate of a car was so overpowering. by the time we reached our new house, our lungs were tired and our foreheads were sweaty.

the house in question was beautiful and way bigger than i had imagined. it was two stories, and i could tell when we pulled up that the backyard was huge, which nick was happy about since it meant cash would be able to go wild. there was a small porch attached to the front, and when we hiked up the steps and entered through the front door, we were greeted with a spacious open-concept floor plan. there wasn't much furniture yet, but the essentials were in. we would go to ikea and get the rest of the furniture later in the week.

nick, george, and clay all released their cats out of the carriers they had been in and they all skittered to various hiding spots around the house to scope out the area. nick took cash and dog off their leashes and they bounced around excitedly before flopping down on the couch together out of exhaustion.

we all quickly followed their example.

"guys, the house is gorgeous and i'm so glad to be here with you all, but i'm exhausted," i said, crashing on the cushion next to the dogs.

george yawned. "yeah, i think i'm gonna go to sleep."

"same. and dibs on that bedroom because it's the closest." i pointed to the bedroom off the right of the kitchen.

"fine by me. goodnight y'all," nick announced, heading up the stairs to take one of the top floor bedrooms. cash followed after him.

"night sippy cup!" i called after him. i rose from my spot on the couch and swung in the doorway of the room i had picked. "boys, i will see you in the morning—"

"wait, you're just gonna sleep in your jeans?" clay asked, motioning to my current outfit.

"eh, yeah. i'll get some clothes tomorrow. i'll be fine."

"what? no, one sec," he said, kneeling down to open up his duffel bag. after a moment of rummaging he pulled out a t-shirt and some sweatpants and tossed them to me. "let me know if they're okay."

i held up the outfit. "ha, these are gonna swallow me big guy, but thanks," i said, slipping past my door. "i'll try it on."

my room didn't have any furniture in it other than the mattress on the floor, but that would change soon. i could already see the layout. i was going to put a desk on one side of my bed and a nightstand on the other, and a dresser against the empty space on the wall by the door. it would fit the room perfectly.

i popped into the jack and jill bathroom that connected my bedroom and the one opposite of it. i changed into the clothes clay had let me borrow and spun around in the mirror.

they were huge on me.

the shirt hung to my mid-thigh and the sweatpants were so long that they tucked beneath my heels like shoes. to compensate for some of the bagginess, i tucked in the front of the shirt and cuffed the bottom of the pants. after i did that, the clothes fit me pretty well. they faintly smelled of his cologne too, which i didn't mind.

"ooh la la," george said as i came out of my room. he was sitting on the floor next to cat, who chirped when he saw me.

i did a little spin. "i don't know if i'm shaped like a box or you have a woman's hips, but these sweatpants fit me surprisingly well," i said to clay.

he wheezed. "i don't know if that's a good thing or not, but i'm glad they fit." he rubbed the back of his neck and then shifted into a big stretch. he looked me up and down twice, seeming like her might say something else, before pulling his eyes away. "i'm... tired, so i'm gonna head to bed."

"me too! i will see you in the morning. night roomies!" george said, picking up cat as he went upstairs.

"night gogy!" i called after him. when i heard his door close, i turned to clay and sighed. "goodnight to you too. thanks for the pjs. and for... this entire house i guess."

he chuckled. "you're welcome. see you in the morning." before he went into his room, he popped his head out the door one last time. "before i go, i just want you to know that i'm... like.. really, really glad you came with us y/n. we all are."

i smiled warmly. "i'm glad too." it felt so surreal being here with him in-person. i really enjoyed his company. as much as i wanted to stay up and chat with him, we were both exhausted, so we said one last goodnight to each other and shut our doors. he was only one room away from me though. i could hear him baby-talking patches from where i was, which was cracking me up.

i flopped down on my mattress and curled up with the pile of blankets that had amassed on top of it. i practically passed out before my head hit the pillow. every breath i took tickled my nose with the faint smell of clay's cologne. his clothes were soft and warm, and oddly comforting.

i drifted off into sweet dreams in no time and, without a doubt, that night i had the soundest sleep i'd ever had in my life.