Chapter Text
college was going great until rent increased.
you had been able to get a good apartment, a job, and stay in school three of the years you’d been there. with just a year left, your landlord told you that the rent would be increasing by half. when you asked why, he said that there had been an increase of renters…. specifically freshman from your school whose parents decided they didn’t want their precious kids living in communal housing.
you were seething. you’d lived on campus for one year, but the environment made your mental health tank and you’d decided to get out.
and now it was ruined because of some freshman.
you refrained from kicking the wall, knowing that he’d probably charge some ridiculous price for it.
you needed to have another option by the end of the week.
—-
you’d been up all night looking for apartments. you just need one for a year, just one year. no matter how many places there are, there’s something wrong with them.
bad part of town, too far, no security, too much money.
you couldn’t sleep, the anxiety eating you alive.
you’re on the verge of passing out at your laptop when you get a call. you ignore it the first time, but the second time it rings, you pick it up.
Ajax. Childe, because Ajax was a lame name in middle school and the new name stuck.
‘just what do you think you’re doing ignoring me?!’ he says into the phone, you can hear the smile on his lips. ‘are we still good to get lunch?’
‘shit, i completely forgot.’ you groan, and get yourself out of bed. ‘i can be there in thirty.’
‘be ready in ten, we’re coming to pick you up, remember?’ that’s right.
‘you didn’t forget about me, did you??’ you hear, the voice almost blowing your eardrums out given how close he is to the speaker and how close the phone is to your ear.
‘of course not Itto.’ you smile.
maybe this is what you need.
—-
‘wow, you look…. awful.’ you roll your eyes a little, not missing the way Childe elbows Itto in the ribs. he whines, but continues to look at you. ‘seriously…. are you ok?’
‘not really.’ you shrug, and try to smile. ‘where’s your car parked?’
‘forget that.’ Childe says, barging into the room, Itto right behind him. ‘what’s up?’
‘rent’s going up.’ you say, trying your best to continue smiling. ‘a bunch of freshman are coming in, so my landlord needs to raise the price to not completely sell out. i can’t pay the rate he wants, so i have to move out. i’ve been apartment hunting all night, but still couldn’t find anything.’ you’re on the verge of bursting into tears.
‘hey, hey.’ Itto walks over to you, pulling you into him. ‘we’ll help you figure something out.’
‘i can’t move back on campus.’ you sob, shaking your head and grabbing onto the back of his shirt. ‘i can’t do it.’
‘there’s no way in hell i’m going to let that happen.’ Childe says, all but shoving Itto away from you so he can look you in the eyes. ‘we both know how terrible it was for you there. it may not exactly be the same, but you saved me, and i’m going to save you.’
Childe had a bad childhood. hence the name change. and the consistent attitude shifts. his parents did the best they could, but truly, they didn’t know how to help him.
you offered him everything, and he only took what he needed, leaving you as intact as possible while putting yourself together.
‘i’ve got an idea.’ Itto says, and you look at him. ‘now, i’m not sure how well it’ll work. it’s got a lot of moving parts, mostly outside of our control.’ you nod, willing to try anything. ‘come live with us.’
you cock your head slightly, not really processing what he’s saying.
‘it’s perfect!’ Childe exclaims, hugging you. ‘no one will care that you’re there!’
‘wait, who all is this?’ you're not sure how many people are involved. one of the main reasons you left communal living on campus was because of the sheer amount of noise.
‘there’s not a bunch of us, but it is a frat house.’
‘i can’t pay to live in a frat house.’
‘i’ll help you!’ Childe says, smiling. you don’t want his dirty money, not knowing where it comes from. ‘or, we can just sneak you in! it's not like anyone comes and checks on us anyway. there’s only….’ he has to count on his fingers. ‘seven guys in the house, including us. but we have a normal sized house!’
‘how is that even a frat, with so few of you?’
‘the founder himself made the damn thing, so they can’t get rid of it. but no one joins because it’s contained, there’s no real acclaim to it. so, we took it over, and now it’s ours.’ Itto says, smiling and poking himself in the chest with his thumb.
‘come on, we’ll take you there now!’ Childe says, almost bouncing on his feet.
‘i don’t know…. wouldn’t that be a bother?’
‘nah, we all have our own rooms because there’s so few of us. just don’t make a shit ton of noise, and don’t stink up the place.’ Childe smiles. you nod, smiling back.
‘let’s go then!’ Itto says, grabbing onto your hand and yanking you toward the car.
—-
the drive there is criminally short. while you don’t want to get your hopes up, it would be very easy to move your junk from your old apartment to here.
Itto and Childe are sitting in the front, too tall to sit in the back. they fight over the music, but by the time they’re about to come to an agreement, you’ve arrived.
when you get out of the car, you’re pleasantly surprised. nothing against the two of them, but they don’t really seem like the type to take care of a house very well. must be some of the perks of it being the school’s original frat, because the white paint looks new, and it doesn’t seem to be too badly maintained.
the three of you get out, and Itto rushes to the door, throwing it open.
‘we have company!’ he yells, running inside.
you smile a little, but still grab onto Childe’s hand, and walk inside.
—-
‘no one wanted to come out of their rooms.’ Itto pouts, standing at the top of the stairs.
‘that’s ok. do i know any of them?’
‘you might know a couple. we’re all from the same year, because we didn’t really want to be anywhere else. we’re actually the first group in a while to be in this house.’ you nod a little, walking inside.
‘basically, we all have our own rooms. this is meant to house like thirty people, each room with two beds in it other than the head’s room. none of us are the head so it doesn’t matter.’ Childe says while Itto whines outside of a door, begging them to come out.
‘are you sure they’re ok with this?’
‘they won’t mind.’ he smiles. ‘and if they do they’ll have to talk to me first.’
‘ok….’
‘you’ll probably get one of the rooms on the third floor. first is the kitchen, living room, and storage in the head’s room. otherwise it’s mostly just bedrooms and bathrooms.’
he leads you up the stairs, looking around.
‘this room is open! and there’s two spares around it, so it should be pretty quiet.’ he leads you inside. ‘there’s already a bed, but i don’t mind helping you bring your own in, and then putting this one on top of the other to create space.’ he smiles. ‘otherwise the space is yours!’
you look around, pleasantly surprised by the cleanliness of the area. it would make sense to put your bed in here and then stack the other two, then your desk and such could fit.
‘are you sure it’s not too much of a bother?’ you look at him, biting your lip.
‘of course not! i can have all of them help get your stuff over here. it’ll probably only take a pizza night or two. as long as you try to help out around here, then it’ll be ok.’ you nod.
‘ok. thank you.’
you call your landlord as soon as you get back, telling him you’ll be gone starting tomorrow.
—-
Itto, Childe, and one other guy showed up. you honestly could have managed with just Itto and Childe, but the third man helped take care of your more fragile stuff.
he looked through your books as you packed away the glassware and trinkets.
‘see anything you like?’ you smile.
he has longer brown hair, pulled into a ponytail at the back. his eyes match the gold hairpiece stuck in the ponytail.
‘there’s a few i’ve never read before….’ he says, placing them into boxes. ‘i’m Zhongli, and i live on the second floor.’
‘nice to meet you!’ you stick out your hand as best you can. he looks shocked, but takes it and smiles.
‘i think you’ll make a fine addition to our home.’ you smile again, and continue packing.
weird way to talk, but you’re sure he’s just being formal.
with the majority of the big stuff shoved into the back of Itto’s truck, the four of you wait outside for the landlord. he looks around, and then takes your key.
‘i’m sorry you weren’t able to stay.’
‘it’s fine.’ you say, looking longingly inside the apartment one last time. you’d spent so much time there, so it was hard to leave. ‘i’ve found a new place for the year. i’m moving back home afterwards anyway.’ you smile.
‘i wish you luck, Y/n.’ you smile at him once more, then wave goodbye.