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The decision to move in together happened during an argument.
Which honestly made perfect sense for them.
“You’re being dramatic,” Katie complained while sitting on the counter in Żabka, kicking her feet lazily.
Ewroon looked up from reorganizing shelves. “You literally called me three times yesterday because I didn’t answer for an hour.”
“Because you disappeared.”
“I went mining.”
“You could’ve told me that.”
“You knew I was mining.”
Katie crossed her arms. “That’s not the point.”
Ewroon sighed dramatically. “Then what is the point?”
“The point,” she said stubbornly, “is that I don’t like being away from you that long.”
The words slipped out before she could stop them.
The store suddenly went quiet.
Katie immediately looked away, pretending to examine a candy display like she hadn’t just admitted something embarrassingly honest.
After a second, Ewroon spoke quieter.
“…I don’t like it either.”
Katie looked back at him.
His expression had softened completely.
No teasing.
No smug comment.
And somehow that was worse.
Because Katie could handle his annoying jokes and dramatic behavior.
She couldn’t handle sincerity from him.
Not when it made her chest feel too tight.
“So…” Ewroon started carefully, “what if we just stopped being apart?”
Katie blinked. “What?”
“We move in together.”
The suggestion hung between them.
Katie stared at him.
“You’re serious?”
“I mean…” He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “We’re already at each other’s places constantly anyway.”
“That’s true.”
“And whenever you leave, you complain.”
“I do not complain.”
“You absolutely complain.”
Katie rolled her eyes but couldn’t stop smiling slightly.
“And you’re clingy too,” she pointed out.
“Yeah, but I admit it.”
“That’s because you have problems.”
“You like my problems.”
Unfortunately, she did.
A little too much.
Three days later they bought a tiny apartment space from QSMP resident Ash, who sold it to them suspiciously fast.
“Why are you giving this to us so cheap?” Katie asked while signing papers.
Ash only grinned.
“You’ll figure it out.”
That should’ve worried them more.
At first, the apartment seemed perfect.
Tiny kitchen.
Warm lighting.
Wooden floors.
A huge window overlooking the server.
It felt cozy.
Lived in.
Safe.
Katie immediately started unpacking while Ewroon wandered around excitedly, already talking about where they should put things.
“This corner needs beanbags.”
“We do not need beanbags.”
“We absolutely need beanbags.”
“You just want somewhere dramatic to sit while complaining.”
“Correct.”
Katie laughed softly under her breath.
It felt weirdly domestic.
The kind of normal life neither of them ever thought they’d have.
Then they found the bedroom.
Or rather—
The singular bedroom.
With one singular bed.
Both of them froze in the doorway.
Katie looked at the bed.
Then at Ewroon.
Then back at the bed again.
“…Ash knew.”
Ewroon groaned immediately. “He absolutely knew.”
“There’s no way this wasn’t intentional.”
“Why is there only ONE BED?”
Katie checked every room anyway despite the apartment being tiny.
There was no second bedroom.
No couch.
No spare mattress.
Nothing.
She returned to the doorway slowly.
“Well…”
Ewroon leaned against the wall awkwardly. “I mean… it’s not a huge deal.”
Katie pretended her face wasn’t warm.
“Yeah. Totally normal.”
“Friends share beds sometimes.”
“Right.”
Neither of them sounded convincing.
That first night was horrible.
Not because anything happened.
Nothing happened.
That was the problem.
Katie laid stiffly on one side of the bed staring at the ceiling while Ewroon stayed equally frozen beside her.
The room felt too quiet.
Too warm.
Too small.
Katie became painfully aware of every tiny movement he made.
The rustling blankets.
His breathing.
The occasional shift of his arm.
At one point he rolled slightly in his sleep and his knee brushed hers.
Katie nearly stopped breathing.
This is ridiculous, she thought.
They’d hugged before.
Cuddled occasionally.
Hell, Ewroon constantly invaded her personal space.
But this felt different somehow.
More intimate.
More dangerous.
Because now there was nowhere to escape to.
No distance.
No walls.
Just him.
Beside her.
Close enough to touch.
Close enough that she could feel warmth radiating from him through the blankets.
Katie got maybe two hours of sleep.
The second night somehow got worse.
Because now both of them were aware of the tension.
Ewroon kept glancing at her accidentally.
Katie kept noticing.
Whenever their hands brushed while reaching for blankets, both of them immediately pulled away too fast.
And every night they ended up laying awake for hours pretending they weren’t hyperaware of each other.
By day four, both of them looked exhausted.
“You look terrible,” Katie informed him one morning.
“You look terrifying.”
“Your fault.”
“How is it my fault?”
“You breathe too loud.”
Ewroon stared at her in disbelief. “That is not a real complaint.”
“It is at 3 AM.”
“You’re insane.”
“You moved in with me willingly.”
“…Good point.”
To distract themselves from the unbearable tension, they started trying to cook together.
Which immediately became another disaster.
Neither of them knew what they were doing.
Their kitchen turned into a war zone almost daily.
“You melted the spatula,” Katie said in disbelief.
“I didn’t know plastic melted that fast!”
“How did you survive before meeting me?”
“Takeout.”
“That explains everything.”
At first Katie was just as bad as him.
She burned toast somehow.
Undercooked pasta twice.
Nearly dropped an entire tray of food because Ewroon distracted her by yelling dramatically after burning his hand.
But over the next few weeks, something changed.
Katie got better.
Way better.
Meanwhile Ewroon somehow became worse.
Dangerously worse.
One afternoon Katie walked into the kitchen to find him staring at a small fire in a pan.
“…Ewroon.”
“I can explain.”
“WHY IS IT ON FIRE?”
“I thought more oil would help.”
“How would that HELP?!”
“I panicked!”
Katie rushed over immediately, grabbing the pan away while Ewroon stumbled backward.
The fire died quickly, but the apartment smelled like smoke for hours afterward.
Katie turned toward him with narrowed eyes.
“You’re banned from cooking unsupervised.”
“That’s dramatic.”
“You are literally a safety hazard.”
He grinned slightly. “You worry about me too much.”
Katie opened her mouth to deny it.
Then noticed the small burn on his wrist.
Her expression softened instantly.
“You burned yourself again.”
“It’s not bad.”
“You said that last time too.”
She grabbed his arm carefully and pulled him toward the sink.
Ewroon went quiet immediately.
Katie always noticed that.
How he stopped acting annoying whenever she genuinely worried about him.
She held his wrist gently under cool water while inspecting the burn.
“You need to be more careful,” she mumbled.
Ewroon wasn’t even looking at the burn anymore.
He was staring at her.
Katie could feel it.
And suddenly the kitchen felt too warm again.
“You’re staring,” she muttered.
“You’re holding my hand.”
Katie immediately let go like she’d touched lava.
Both of them looked away.
Things only got worse after that.
Every moment together felt charged now.
When Katie leaned over him to grab ingredients, Ewroon forgot what he was saying mid-sentence.
Whenever Ewroon wrapped his arms around her from behind as a joke, Katie stopped functioning properly.
Neither of them talked about it.
But the tension kept building.
Until one night it finally snapped.
They were trying another recipe they found online.
Something involving pasta sauce and way too many seasonings.
Katie stood beside the stove while Ewroon attempted to follow instructions on his phone.
“You skipped a step again,” she laughed.
“No I didn’t.”
“You absolutely did.”
“The recipe’s confusing.”
“The recipe says stir.”
“I AM stirring.”
“You’re aggressively attacking the sauce.”
“It deserves it.”
Katie burst out laughing.
Ewroon looked over at her automatically.
And then neither of them looked away.
The laughter faded slowly.
The apartment suddenly felt quieter.
Katie’s heart started pounding for absolutely no reason.
Ewroon stepped closer without thinking.
Close enough that she could see the tiny freckles across his face.
Close enough that she could feel his breath slightly.
Neither of them moved.
“You’re staring again,” Katie whispered.
“You’re nervous again.”
“I’m not nervous.”
“You are.”
“Shut up.”
He smiled slightly at that.
Katie’s brain completely stopped working.
Because that smile was unfair.
Especially this close.
Especially after weeks of sleeping beside him and pretending she didn’t want to get closer.
Without fully thinking, Katie grabbed the front of his hoodie and kissed him.
Ewroon froze.
Completely.
For one terrifying second Katie thought she’d ruined everything.
Then suddenly he kissed her back hard.
His hands immediately grabbed her waist, pulling her closer so fast she stumbled against him.
The kiss turned messy almost instantly.
Weeks of tension exploded all at once.
Katie tangled her fingers in his hair while Ewroon backed her against the counter without even realizing it.
Every thought in her head disappeared.
All she could focus on was him.
The way he held her too tightly.
The way neither of them seemed capable of pulling away.
Like they’d both secretly wanted this for a long time.
Maybe too long.
Katie laughed breathlessly against his mouth at one point and Ewroon kissed her harder in response.
The kitchen grew hotter around them.
But neither noticed.
Because they were too distracted kissing each other like they’d been deprived of affection for weeks.
Which honestly they had.
Then suddenly—
The smoke alarm exploded through the apartment.
Both of them jumped apart violently.
Katie blinked in confusion before realizing smoke was pouring out of the pan.
“Oh my god!”
“The food!”
Ewroon lunged for the stove while Katie doubled over laughing.
“You burned it!”
“You kissed me first!”
“That’s not an excuse!”
“How is it not an excuse?!”
Katie laughed so hard she nearly fell over while Ewroon frantically waved a towel near the smoke detector.
The apartment smelled horrible within minutes.
Eventually Ewroon gave up and stared sadly at the ruined dinner.
“…We are never financially recovering from this.”
Katie was still giggling when he looked back at her.
Then his expression softened again.
That same dangerous softness.
“You know,” he said quietly, “you could’ve just told me you wanted to kiss me.”
Katie immediately felt her face heat up.
“You could’ve kissed me first.”
Ewroon stepped closer slowly.
This time there was no hesitation.
No awkward distance.
No pretending anymore.
“Yeah,” he murmured softly. “Probably.”