Work Text:
As hectic as it is to move into a new apartment, Mark considers himself lucky. He’s grateful for the opportunity to have a fresh start.
This house is the perfect place to make new memories with his roommates. He can’t wait to fill up his vanity mirror with pictures from their high school days and snapshots from new adventures.
The trio chats with the owner, a sweet elderly lady with a witty sense of humor. They sign the rest of the paperwork. Pay the security deposit. They do adult-like things, and even though they don't quite feel like adults yet - the word “adults” hangs over them like an oversized sweater, something they’ll probably never grow into - it’s enough of a dramatic change to make them feel like they are.
So really, that’s what matters.
The couch still hasn't come yet, much to Eduardo’s disappointment, but it's not like Mark expected it to arrive on time. They’ll have to sit on the floor as they sort through the rest of their belongings. Jon doesn’t seem to mind too much. They’ll make the best out of it.
(Although Mark has to keep reminding Eduardo not to sit on the kitchen counter every five minutes, but whatever.)
They spend the whole day unpacking and unloading boxes from the delivery truck outside. This is the most strenuous part of their day. None of them are prepared for it, so it takes forever.
Did they overpack? Is it possible to overpack when you’re moving into a new apartment?
God, why the hell did we bring so much stuff…?
They sweat and heave as they carry the rest of the boxes into their new home. This grabs the attention of a few neighbors from across the street who stare at them while pretending to mind their own business.
Well that’s one way to say hello. Eduardo grumbles under his breath. Mark laughs and pushes him forward.
Jon waves to the neighbors, scaring most of them away with his upbeat energy.
...This seems to put Eduardo back in high spirits.
They take short breaks every once in a while, but eventually those “breaks” become longer and longer, and pretty soon they’re lounging on the floor, sweaty and exhausted, doing everything but being productive.
So yeah, they don't really get a lot done on the first day.
But hey, new house!
The living room looks like a cluttered mess.
Cardboard boxes of all shapes and sizes litter the floor; it’s becoming impossible to see the wooden floorboards underneath. Jon worries that the people from the TV show Hoarding: Buried Alive will see the state their house is in and try to convince them to do an episode. Mark snorts. Maybe if the directors pay them enough cash on the spot they’ll consider it.
Eduardo looks too disgusted to even entertain the idea. Besides, Eduardo says, these boxes are filled with things that we actually intend to use. When Mark points out that this makes him sound like a perfect candidate for the show, Eduardo gives him the middle finger.
Isn’t he adorable?
The boxes are filled with everything they could need and more: kitchen decor, clothes, books, cleaning supplies, bathroom essentials, stuffed animals that no one wants to admit that they own, and other miscellaneous things. They look ready to burst any second.
Eduardo says that if they want this place to actually look like people are living here, they need to get off their asses and start making it look like one. Mark groans and Jon sighs, but they both know he's right. They have a lot of work to do around here. They can’t just sit on the floor for the rest of their lives.
...Although the idea is tempting.
But the extra dust is making Mark sneeze again, so they decide to give unpacking their boxes another shot. They know it’s going to be a grueling task, but at least they’re mentally prepared for it now.
Eduardo suggests that they should do a general cleaning of the house before they start to unpack. Y’know, wipe down all of the hard surfaces, sweep and mop the floors, clean the bathroom, take care of the kitchen. All that Cinderella bullshit, he says.
Mark and Jon exchange looks.
Neither wants to clean the entire apartment right now. The thought of additional work makes Mark feel physically tired. Jon seems to agree, but he looks like he’s waiting for Mark to stand up for them. To put his foot down, argue for some compromise.
After realizing that this won't happen unless he says something, Mark sighs.
Are you sure that’s a good idea? He asks. He’s treading dangerous waters here, but hey, it's worth a shot. There’s no way they’ll be able to finish everything today, that would be impossible. I mean, isn’t this place clean enough? It’s a new apartment.
So? There’s an edge to Eduardo’s voice that wasn’t there before.
So, um, what’s the point of cleaning again? Surprisingly, it’s Jon who speaks up this time, shuffling around awkwardly on his feet. He's staring at the floorboards as if he's expecting them to rise up and answer his question. I mean, I don’t think Selena would offer us a dirty house…
(Selena is the house owner. She bakes really good cookies.)
It’s not about what Selena would offer us! Eduardo snaps. Jon shrinks back like a wilted flower. How do you know if the old tenants cleaned this place before they left? We have no idea what kind of people used to live here! Great, Eduardo’s ranting. We don’t know what their cleaning schedule was like, or if they even had one. Who knows what kind of things they did in here! Eduardo shakes his head as he mentally runs through a list of possibilities. What if they fucked in the shower, huh? What if they had chlamydia? What if they-
Alright, that's enough! Mark jumps in, elbowing him in the stomach when he notices Jon starting to look a little green. Poor kid. We’ll clean up, okay? Just calm down!
...Although the majority of Mark wants to point out that you can’t get chlamydia from dirty surfaces, he leaves that part out. He knows his argument will only be futile; Eduardo has successfully scared Jon into cleaning.
To make it more manageable, they divide the workload up between them. Eduardo carries most of the heavier boxes upstairs and fixes up the kitchen. Jon sweeps and mops all of the floors. This leaves Mark with bathroom duty, much to his annoyance.
He files his nails before getting started. He isn't about to risk breaking another nail because he was scrubbing too hard.
Mark disinfects the toilet and the bathtub - they’re about to learn very quickly that Eduardo likes things very clean - and wipes the mirrors in each room because god, do they look tragic. When Mark finally finishes, and passes two inspection checks from Eduardo - to make sure he doesn’t half ass it, as Mark tends to do - he sits on the floor and breathes a sigh of relief.
He makes some "grown up" phone calls, finally arranging a time and date for the cable guys to show up - who seem kind of sketchy btw, but they need tv, so they don’t really have the room to complain. On the bright side, Jon says, at least it’s cheap. This is probably their biggest selling point. Mark crosses his fingers and silently prays that the tv shows won’t display in black and white.
Now, they sit on the floor of their apartment and sort through more boxes. Sorting, organizing, and unpacking as they discuss future plans to fix up the place. They try to focus on the more important matters at hand first, like utility bills and which cable bundle to choose, but they end up chatting about home decor.
Maybe hang some lights here, add some curtains there...
Oh, and they definitely needed to paint the walls. This one is Eduardo's order. He isn't paying rent every month to live in a goddamn white shoebox, as he calls it. The walls need some color to brighten up the place, make it feel more “homey.” Is homey a real word? Yeah, Jon says after he does a quick google search. Okay, good. They agree that painting the walls will be the first thing on their agenda once they're settled in.
The cable guys won’t come for another week or so, but the roommates want some kind of background noise to provide some sort of distraction as they unpack and move things around.
How about some music? Jon suggests.
Mark immediately remembers the record player he left at his parents' house and groans. Of course that’s the one thing he forgets to bring. He’ll have to pack it up the next time he goes back home. But since the new apartment is a long distance from his house, he might not be able to get it until Christmas break-
No. He has to remind himself. Not Christmas break. It was just "Christmas" now. He wasn’t attending university anymore, but for some reason his brain was still running on the schedule. He feels a little frustrated, but he tries to remind himself that it will take some time to adjust to such a big move.
Eduardo borrows Jon’s cell phone so he can blast some music as they unpack. It’s vibrating on the floor as the heavy bassline starts to kick in.
They want to finish as much as they possibly can today, so Eduardo throws on his workout playlist to get them re-energized. A bunch of shitty rap songs with too many curse words that Mark can’t bother to remember the names of.
Mark doesn’t really like this kind of music, but he chuckles when he sees how much his roommates are getting into it. Eduardo’s rapping along to the melody with ease, moving his hands around him like he’s practicing for some intense freestyle battle. Jon seems to know the words too, although he’s not as loud as Eduardo is. He bops his head to the beat, quiet and content. And every now and again, Mark catches him mouthing some of the catchy lines while skipping over the curse words.
Seeing his roommates so happy and oblivious to everything around them makes Mark's heart melt.
This feels like home already…
...But he would be lying if he said he wasn’t utterly exhausted right now.
The dust in the apartment makes Mark sneeze again. His roommates have given up shouting, “Bless you!” every five minutes, realizing that it’s pointless. Mark sniffs and rubs his nose. Damn. He can’t take this anymore. He wants to hurry up and finish already!
At least he’s making good progress so far. Although he feels like he could fall down at any given moment, he keeps working. He promises to take a break later. Once he’s finished, maybe he could step outside for some fresh air. It’s a pretty good motivator.
Mark feels a little lightheaded, but he tries to ignore it.
So far, so good!
Twenty minutes later, when Eduardo notices his body sway a bit, he barks at him and tells him to sit the fuck down.
“If you need a break, just take a fucking break,” Eduardo snaps at him.
Mark doesn’t take offense to the harsh tone; he knows it’s coming from a place of concern.
...Probably.
Eduardo looks back at him, maybe expecting some sort of rebuttal. When he gets none, he huffs out, “I don’t need you passing out on us.” In the next few seconds, he’s roughly shoving a glass of water into his hands, and Mark’s amazed that it doesn’t spill.
Looking down at the glass, he suddenly realizes how thirsty he’s been this entire time. His mouth feels so dry.
Mark gulps the liquid down without a second thought. The glass shakes in his hands, but his brain can’t process it. Damn. How long had they been unpacking? His mind feels muddled and hazy, and he’s slightly annoyed by the fact that he has no idea what time it is.
Jon rushes back from the kitchen, breathing heavy. He’s holding a glass of water in his hands and-
Oh.
Guess he had the same idea as Eduardo, huh? Mark shakes his head, a weak chuckle escaping his lips. Sometimes those two are more alike than they think.
Jon sits down and places the glass of water beside him. It hardly makes a sound when he places it on the ground.
Then again, they’re also so different.
“You okay?” Jon asks, concern written all over his features. When Mark doesn’t give an immediate answer, he moves in closer.
Jon gently cups his cheek, trying to get a better look at him.
Mark tries not to squirm. He hates when people touch him, but he knows there's no bad intentions behind it.
His two roommates are like night and day.
As if on cue, Eduardo shifts uncomfortably on his feet as he watches the two interact so closely. When Mark snickers at him, Eduardo shoots him a dirty look before turning away.
“How are you feeling?” Jon tries to get his attention again. His voice is soft and tender.
“I’m alright,” Mark replies. Either he pushed himself too hard today, or he was really out of shape. He shudders at the latter being a possibility. Yeah, he’s heading to the nearest gym as soon as he learns his way around the neighborhood.
Mark doesn’t feel close to fainting anymore, but he still feels a little dizzy. So he says, “Just, just give me a minute...”
“No.” Eduardo’s response is sharp and immediate. “You’re not gonna need 'a minute’. You’re gonna sit right there and you’re not gettin’ up until you feel better. Got it?” His voice is rough and threatening, but Mark can’t help but laugh at how sweet the words actually are. Eduardo can be so protective sometimes. It’s actually kind of cu-
“You think this is a joke!?” Eduardo’s harsh voice snaps him out of his thoughts. Mark jolts, immediately stops laughing. “I’m not messin’ around here!"
Nevermind. Definitely not cute. Eduardo is very scary.
“Okay, okay!” Mark finally answers, trying to calm his roommate down. Now probably isn’t the best time to laugh at Eduardo’s weird display of emotion. Mark bites back a smile. “I’m staying right here, got it.”
Eduardo glares at him for a second longer before shaking his head. He storms off to finish unpacking the rest of their things.
Phew. Jon breathes a sigh of relief.
“Don’t listen to him,” Jon whispers as soon as Eduardo is out of earshot. “He’s just…” He looks away, bites his bottom lip. Plays with the hem of his shirt. “He’s just worried about you.”
“I know.” Mark chuckles as he picks up the glass of water beside him. He runs his free hand through Jon’s hair, watching as his shoulders relax. “We signed up to live with the asshole, remember?”
Jon laughs softly.
“I’m gonna go help him unpack the rest of our stuff.” Jon puts a hand on his shoulder. “You stay here and rest.” He begins to get up, but stops himself. “Let me know if you need anything, okay?”
Mark feels his heart flutter in his chest.
“Okay.”
Yeah, it feels like home already...