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"You two give off very similar vibes," Dakota said, and I raised a brow at him.
"I give off the same vibes as a cat?" I asked, and he smirked.
"Very much so. You're both cute and lazy," he said, and my brows shot up in surprise. Me, cute? Had he hit his head?
While I wouldn't deny that I was good-looking, I didn't think I was cute. Ryk was cute. Maybe even Nico. I was more along the lines of dashing, or handsome.
"I'm not cute," I growled, and Dakota's blue eyes twinkled as he shook his head.
"You very much are," he said, and I turned to Nico for help.
"Don't look at me. I agree," he said with a smile, and I glared at him. How could he betray me like that?
Shaking my head, I realized Ryk was starting to rub off on me. Why was I getting so worked up over this?
Slumping down on the couch and startling Moon—who instantly crawled up my chest until he was practically sitting on my face—I decided ignoring both of them would be the best way to go. I'd just stay like this until Dakota's parents arrived.
Dakota
The brunch with my parents went perfectly. Nico's cooking was practically perfect, and the praise my parents heaped on him made him look like he was glowing.
All three of my roommates looked pretty taken with my parents, even Star, which made me wonder what their family situation was. Were they not on good terms with their parents? Or had they lost them? I'd never heard any of them talk about their parents, which was why I hadn't asked. I'd even warned my mom not to since I didn't want to hurt them if there were painful memories involved.
Like with Ryk, my mom had insisted Nico and Star call her 'Mom' too, and while Ryk had taken to it instantly, Nico and Star seemed to be having a little trouble, and they kept switching between Vanessa and Mom, not that she seemed to mind.
My dad was a quiet man—Star reminded me of him sometimes—but even he was making an effort to get to know my roommates, probably at my mom's urging.
By the time they were ready to leave, it was almost evening. Brunch had led to dessert, which had led to an afternoon tea, and somehow the conversation had just kept going. My mom had this superpower where she could put practically anyone at ease, and her powers had worked on these three like a charm.
"Okay, we should be leaving now," Mom said as she got to her feet, and Dad followed suit. "But," she continued, pulling out a pad of sticky notes and a pen from her bag—I was pretty sure she had a pocket dimension in there. She could pull anything out of her bag and I wouldn't be surprised—"here's my number. I want all three of you to add me and send me a text so I can save yours. If you ever need anything, advice, cooking tips, embarrassing stories about Dakota—"
"Hey!" I protested, and I was largely ignored except for a pitying look from my dad which wasn't really helpful.
"As I was saying, whatever you need, I'll be happy to help. Okay?" Mom said, and Nico nodded like a bobblehead as he took the post-it from her.
Ryk immediately tugged it out of his hand and started entering the number into his phone, making Mom chuckle.
"Take care of them, okay?" Mom whispered to me as she wrapped her arms around me, and I patted her back.
"I will," I assured her, as I wondered if it shouldn't be the other way around. I knew what she meant, though. My roommates had this clueless vibe around them, like this was their first time living in the real world. Sometimes, they bungled up the simplest things, and it made me wonder if no one had taught them the basics of living. I'd felt protective of them from the day we met, and I guessed my mom could sense that too.
"All of you, feel free to drop by the house whenever, okay? Just no unannounced visits because I won't be responsible for whatever you might walk in on," she said, and I screwed my face up.
"Ew, Mom!"
"Get your head out of the gutter, mister," she said with a grin, as if she hadn't intentionally said something dirty.
The moment my parents left and I closed the door after them, Star fell face-first on the couch. "I like your parents, Dakota, but man, socializing is exhausting."
Laughing, I glanced from him to Ryk, who was helping Nico clean up the tea cups and almost buzzing with excitement, and shook my head. They were so close, and yet so different from each other.
I wondered how these three came to be friends.
"Hey, guys. How did the three of you meet?" I asked when Nico and Ryk had returned to the living room, and Star turned on his side so he could look at me and the others.
"Uh..." Nico murmured, looking at a loss for words, and my brows furrowed. My question hadn't been that hard to answer, had it?
"You said you're childhood friends, right? So were you neighbors, then?" I asked, and Ryk's eyes widened.
