A/N: Hi. It's been a long time. Happy reading :)

Chapter 3

Roman was humming to a rock blasting in the background as he sat by the booth, waiting for Dean to arrive. His football practice finished a bit earlier than expected, so he came in about 20 minutes early.

At the corner of his eye, he spotted the raven haired girl walking out from the kitchen door with a tray of dishes in her hand. A smile spread across his face. He always hoped that she was on her shift whenever he came by for a drink since he knew she normally worked nights.

By the time she finished serving the table, Roman waved at her, hoping to catch her attention. The girl caught this, smiled in return and walked over to him.

"Roman, hey!"

"Hi Paige," Roman said.

"Would you like your usual?"

"Uh, not here. I'm waiting on Dean to get here first."

"Ok no problem," said Paige. "By the way, how's the stats going?"

"Awesome. Finished my assignment last night." Roman's smile went bigger.

Paige stared at him as of two horns appeared on his head out of nowhere. "Last night? Dr. Roberts posted the assignment yesterday before he came to class!"

Roman laughed. "What can I say? I love math."

"Wish I could say the same," Paige rolled her eyes and sighed. "I've been trying to find a tutor but it's so hard when the sessions are clashing with my work schedule."

"Sorry to hear that." Then Roman got an idea. "How about I help you?"

"Really?" Paige's eyes lit up. "You would do that?"

"Yeah!" The Samoan teenager grinned. "I mean, if you're up to it."

"Up to it?" Paige was on the verge of screaming, but she settled down as soon as she caught herself. Roman noticed this and tried not to laugh.

"That would be amazing," Paige couldn't stop smiling. "Thank you so much."

"No prob." Roman winked. Then he saw Dean coming over. "Oh hey bro."

"Hey," Dean greeted with a fist bump to Roman.

"Hello Dean," Paige said.

"Paige." Dean nodded and sat down.

"What can I get you guys?"

"I'll have the usual and your favorite burger."

Paige raised her brow at the peculiar request. "You know my favorite burger?"

"Not until you recommend it to me." Roman smirked.

Paige laughed. "Right. How about you, Dean?

"Just a beer for me," Dean replied, folding his arms on the table.

"Alrighty then. Be back in a few."

Paige disappeared into the back, and Roman turned his focus on his best friend. "Oh, I think I may have some good news for ya."

"Oh? What is it?"

"There's this guy from my team. His cousin is looking for a room to rent, so I gave him your number so he could call."

"Ok. Well that's not necessary anymore. I've already got someone."

"Really?" Roman smiled. "That's great!"

Dean shrugged and looked away into the distance.

Roman didn't take offence when Dean looked away. He knew how his best friend was, especially when there were things he didn't really want to talk about.

"So how are they?" Roman asked.

"Okay I guess. It's that girl Naomi. You know, the one your cousin has a thing for."

"For real? But uh, I thought she's rooming with Cameron though?"

Dean shrugged again. "I don't know. I didn't ask. But yeah, she's with me now."

"Okay." Roman beamed. "Well I don't think you'll have to worry about her."

That statement caught Dean's attention and he looked back at Roman. "You know her well?"

"Not really. But we were in the same group for a project last semester. She's really cool."

"Whatever you say."

Of course, there's no hint of interest in Dean's voice.

"Come on, Dean. Just give her a chance. You'll like her once you get to know her."

Dean looked away again and Paige returning to their booth with two mugs of beer was perfect timing. All he wanted right now was a beer.

x-x-x-x

Naomi was washing her hands in the kitchen sink. She had just finished her dinner. Although tonight didn't turn out the way she wanted. She was hoping that she could eat with a new friend and get to know him more.

But it seemed as though Dean didn't share the same thoughts she had.

Could Jimmy be right about him all along?

That question was on her mind the moment Dean left the apartment. One minute Dean was nice….then the next, Dean was cold.

Well, come to think about it, Dean hadn't been super friendly with her at their first meeting. He didn't really smile and his personality didn't exactly exude any warmth either.

Naomi had no idea what to do. She had just moved in. The last thing she wanted had to deal with another lousy roommate again. She sighed. The silence was starting to bug her, so she went inside to her room. That was the only safe place that she could count on for now.

x-x-x-x

It was about 10:30pm when Roman and Dean arrived back at the apartment building in Roman's car.

"Thanks for the lift," Dean said as hopped out from the passenger side.

"No prob," Roman said.

Dean went around the front and into the entrance.

"And don't forget what I said earlier," Roman called out.

Dean waved him off. "Yeah yeah, whatever. You still want to go in the gym tomorrow?"

"You bet!" Roman smiled. "I'll text you."

"Cool, see ya." Dean made a salute with two fingers at him and walked away.

Roman called for him once again. "Dean! Don't forget what I said, okay?"

Dean once again waved him off and went up the stairs.

Roman watched him until he could no longer see his shadow. He knew that Dean was a loner and preferred to keep that way. As much as he loved hanging out with his best friend, he couldn't help but wonder about him on days they weren't meeting. He would always try to invite him to parties, but Dean always refused. Roman understood that was never his thing, but he couldn't help but to feel lonely sometimes. Sure, Roman had his own friends too, but Dean's absence was felt so much that it was sometimes hard to ignore.

"Hopefully he'll come around and warm up to her," Roman thought.

Dean returned to see the apartment empty. For a second, his heart was about to leap for joy.

Only for a second. Then he heard muffled sounds of music and exploding sound effects.

Oh, she's still here. Probably watching some movie on her laptop. So any thought of having any proper alone time had gone out the window.

Dean tossed his keys on the counter and realized a brown bag was sitting on the counter.

The same one that Dean rejected earlier.

He turned around and opened the freezer. It had already taken up half the space. A lot of frozen vegetables and chicken breast, he observed. He rummaged through the fridge and realized he was out of frozen chicken nuggets and fries.

He checked the fridge. All the groceries Naomi bought were organized on left side of the fridge. Smoothies, yoghurts, eggs, milk and a bag of potatoes. But no sign of his groceries inside.

"Ah shit," Dean muttered and closed the fridge. Just then the door cracked open.

Perfect timing indeed.

"Hey," Naomi attempted a small wave, uncertain whether that was a good idea or not. "I heard you come in."

"You didn't throw it away."

"Throw what?" Naomi was confused.

"This." Dean pointed to the brown bag on the counter. "I thought you threw it away."

"Well…no I didn't." Naomi was hurt once again. "Like I said before. I got it for you."

Dean looked at the bag. Then he looked at the girl, then at the bag again before he took it up.

"Thanks," Dean said. "But next time, don't do it again, alright? I buy my own food, so no need to waste your money on me."

"I wasn't wasting money," Naomi retorted. "I noticed you haven't shopped for yourself and figured I'd save you the trouble from cooking tonight."

"For your information, I don't need saving from anything," Dean said. "And I sure as hell don't need your help. If I want something, I get it on my own. Is that clear?"

Naomi tried her best not to let the burning sensation in her eyes got to her. "Fine. Please excuse me. You're in my way from the fridge."

Dean stepped aside and Naomi pulled out a smoothie from the fridge and left in a swift motion. The door was slammed shut and Dean was left alone with the brown bag. His stomach was growling for the longest while since he didn't bother to grab takeaway from the bar.

He pulled out the cold hamburger and fries from the bag to the plate and went over to couch to eat. The hamburger actually turned out better than he expected despite the sogginess.

In that moment, he was grateful. He glanced up at the room door.

That same door of the room that's no longer his.

And the exact reason why guilt crept in and lingered on for the rest of night.