Marie sat at her desk, the phone cradled between her head and shoulder, as she typed up the last few bit of notes that she needed. It was late afternoon for her and she hoped that Lance hadn�t stayed out too late the night before or else he was going to be in a pissy mood.
Lance groaned as the phone�s shrill sound echoed through his room. He buried his face deeper into his pillow and pulled the covers up over his head, hoping that if he ignored it long enough the person on the other end would get the point. The phone rang a few more times before his hand shot out and groped blindly for it, knocking over a few things in the process.
�G�adfwlakj.�
Marie laughed. �Rough night?�
Lance groaned and flipped onto his back, covering his eyes from the sun filtering in through the blinds, and mumbled, �Uh huh.�
�Are you capable of speech or should I call back later?�
�Wha�time issit?�
�Uh, I think it�s about five o�clock my time so it might be around noon or one for you.� Lance groaned and she hurried on, �I can call back later.�
�No, I need to wake up anyways. Can you wait a few minutes so I can brush my teeth and pee, I�ll call you back if you want,� he offered.
�No, that�s ok. I can wait.�
�All right, I�ll be back in a minute.� He tossed the phone onto the bed and padded into the connecting bathroom. He quickly washed his face, brushed his teeth, peed, and swallowed a few Motrin to ease the throbbing between his eyes. He jogged back into his room and put his glasses on before grabbing the phone. �Ok, I�m back now.�
�I can call back later and just let you sleep,� she said softly.
�No no no, sweetie, don�t worry about it.� He turned his head away from the phone and yawned. �I shouldn�t sleep half the day away anyways.�
�You sure?�
��Course I�m sure.� He walked out of his room and down the hallway, absently scratching his bare stomach, to the staircase leading into the kitchen. �How�re you?�
�I�m good. I�d ask how you are but I�ll spare you the brain trauma of trying to remember what happened last night,� she answered, giggling.
�Oh ha ha,� he replied, voice completely deadpan. He rounded the corner into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door. He grabbed the carton of orange juice and popped it open, drinking straight from the carton. �Hey, did you think about what I asked you yesterday?�
�Yeah, that�s why I called actually.�
Lance grinned excitedly. �Good or bad news?�
�Well, I need to know a few things first, if that�s ok?�
�Yeah, sure, ask away,� he replied, slightly nervous.
Marie sat up in her chair and looked at the Word document open on her computer. �First things first, how much is rent and stuff?�
�Um, there is no rent,� he replied.
Marie closed her eyes and let out a small breath. She was hoping Lance wouldn�t say that. �I�m not staying at your place without earning my keep. That�s not fair.�
�I�m not charging anyone else rent so why would I charge you?� argued Lance. He sat down on a kitchen chair and leaned back, propping his bare feet onto another chair. He took another drink before closing the carton and setting it on the table.
�Lance,� she whined.
�Marie,� he mimicked back, snickering softly.
�Ugh, you�re mean.�
Lance laughed. �I�m mean because I�m not charging you rent. Have you had your head examined lately?�
�Lance, I�ve always kept my keep. I was brought up to work for what you have,� she explained. �Even though I don�t pay rent to live at home, I cook and clean and stuff. I can�t live with you for free, I just wouldn�t feel right.�
�Well, what constitutes as �stuff�,� he asked, grinning wolfishly despite the fact that she couldn�t see him.
Marie groaned. �Ok, I don�t know whether or not to joke back at you or be utterly disgusted that you�d imply I offer my father that kind of payment.�
�Oh EW!� he cried out, wrinkling his nose in disgust. �Seriously, I did not mean it that way. Yuck, that�s just so incredibly wrong and nasty.�
Marie burst into a fit of giggles. �Yeah, I know. I was just messing with you. But seriously, I need a way to earn my keep.�
Lance shuddered and let out a sound of disgust before saying, �Well, a cleaning service comes once a week to clean the house, and your room unless you specify otherwise. Everyone equally chips in for food. Usually you give me a list of what you want and I pass that on to the grocery store, and they deliver once a week.�
Marie�s eyes widened. �You get your groceries delivered?!�
�Well, I can�t really walk into a store by myself, can I?� he answered.
�This is true,� she mumbled. �Well, what about cooking?�
Lance bit his lip and furrowed his brow as he tried to remember everyone�s schedules off the top of his head. �Well, Mark works days and goes to night school so he�s not around all that much. Both Beth and Michael work. And me, well, I�m around whenever I don�t have something going on. So, normally we all just catch something on the fly.�
Marie made a frustrated noise in the back of her throat. �I don�t want people to think I�m taking advantage of your financial situation.�
�I know you�re taking advantage of me, you know you�re not taking advantage of me, so fuck everyone else. Let them think what they want.� Lance stood up and put the carton of juice back into the refrigerator before sitting back down. �Is that all that�s stopping you from coming out?�
�Well, no, not really. I�m kind of worried about how to get out there.�
�Aren�t you going to fly out?�
�No, I really don�t want to. I need my car so I�d have to drive out there,� she explained, �but I�m not really comfortable with the idea of driving out there by myself. Dad offered to come with me but I don�t want to bother him.�
�I�ll do it,� Lance offered, excitement building up.
�Lance, no.�
�Why not?� he argued.
�Because�because I don�t want you to go out of your way!�
�You realize that the only crap I do is go to movie premiere�s and parties just to make appearances, right? I can easily get out of those.�
�But I don�t want you to neglect your responsibilities.�
Lance laughed softly and repeated, �Responsibilities? Like what, partying? Just give me a time when you want me to fly out and I�ll drive here with you.�
Marie sighed, reluctantly giving in. �Dad said that I should go out there in April so that I�d have the summer to get used to my surroundings and get a job. All I need to do is call school and register for the fall semester and I�m all set.�
�So you�re coming to live with me,� he asked slowly, his mouth stretched into a wide, hopeful grin.
�Yeppers,� she replied, grinning.
Lance let out an excited shout and began rambling, �This is so awesome! You�re going to love it here. Chris lives down the street. Justin and JC are only a half an hour ride away. We can have a party and I�ll introduce you to everyone and just, yeah. This is so cool.�
Marie giggled at his excitement. �Whoa, boy, slow down. It�s only March.�
Lance mock pouted and whined, �But I want you out here now.�
She laughed and leaned back in her seat. They talked for two more hours about the details, their excitement conspicuous in their voices. When it was time for Marie to go, Lance rambled on about how excited he was until she laughed and told him to let her go. When they hung up, both were beaming and thrumming with excitement.