War & Peace Leftovers
Based on this ask from @icecoffee90, she wanted a fic about Jackie & Bryce arguing over "eating all their food" and the roomies discussing "all the people they bring into their shared space."
Book: Open Heart (Book 2)
Characters: Jackie Varma, Bryce Lahela, F!MC (Casey), Elijah Greene, Aurora Emery, Sienna Trinh, Tobias Carrick (mentioned)
Rating: Teen
Words: 1,275
Summary: Jackie is looking forward to her first day off of work in longer than she can remember when Bryce unintentionally messes things up. After a meltdown, new rules are created.
A/N: I haven't written a "roomies chaos" fic in some time, and it was so much fun to do one again. I hope you enjoy it! Participating in @choicesmonthlychallenge 's August challenge by doing a throwback to the January challenge with the prompt "Friends."
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The life of a medical resident isn’t an easy one. But with a bit of creativity, there are ways to muddle through. One of the highlights? The rare, precious, and cherished day off, and today, Jackie Varma finally had one of those days. She hit snooze on her alarm clock five times... just because she could. She was about to hit it a sixth time just for fun when her eyes popped open.
There was a very good reason to finally drag herself out of bed at noon: the delicious leftovers she had brought home last night. The hospital had hosted a luncheon and told everyone to take leftovers home. You don’t have to say that to a broke resident twice, especially when penne gorgonzola from Carmelina’s was among the offerings. The delicious delicacy definitely beat the instant ramen noodles she normally had for lunch. But that’s OK, she thought with a smile. Today, she had her leftovers.
She thought about getting dressed, but this was her day off. One of the highlights of this high holy day was sitting around in pajamas. Her roommates understood and had seen her in worse, so she wrapped her hair in a messy bun, slipped her feet into her fuzzy slippers, and off to the kitchen she went. She heard people conversing, and as nice as it would have been to have the place alone for a bit, she was used to living with four roommates, so she didn’t let it dampen her mood. Besides, she was about to have penne gorgonzola. If memory served, it tasted even better heated up the next day. She knew she was excited because she swore she could almost smell it, then she stepped into the kitchen and...
“Hey, Jackie!” Bryce flashed her his signature grin just before sticking his fork in the last piece of her precious penne. This was a declaration of war.
“Wha... what... WHAT ARE YOU DOING!” She screamed so ferociously Elijah, Sienna, and Casey came running from their rooms. “What the HELL are you doing!?”
Bryce had no idea how a simple greeting could have escalated so quickly.
“Nothing!” He defended, eyes wide. “What’s wrong?”
Jackie was already at his side, not-so-playfully hitting her now-sworn enemy.
“YOU ATE MY FOOD! Do you have any idea how much I was looking forward to that?”
“Oh, I’m sor...”
“SAVE IT! That was penne gorgonzola from Carmelina’s!”
“I know,” Bryce replied sheepishly. “And it was delicious.”
Casey silently gave Bryce the “cut-it” signal, mouthing, “Not helping!”
“YOU DON’T EVEN LIVE HERE!” Jackie hollered. She turned to her roommates. “Why is he here! Who brought him here?” But before anyone could answer, she directed her ire back to Bryce. “WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS HERE?”
“OK, Jackie... simmer down,” Casey pleaded. “I know you’re pissed, but Bryce is our friend, and....”
“He was my friend,” Jackie snapped. “Past tense. Who comes into an apartment THAT IS NOT HIS and eats someone’s leftovers!”
“Jackie,” Sienna said nervously. “This isn’t entirely Bryce’s fault. He asked if he could have my leftovers, which were also in the fridge, and I said yes. I’m really sorry.”
“OK, so what are your leftovers? I’ll eat them.”
“Uh... a cheeseburger from McDonald’s...”
Jackie slumped into a chair with a sigh of frustration. Her head fell into her hands, and, to everyone’s shock, she began crying.
Elijah shook his head at Bryce. “Oh my God, you broke her!”
“OK! I’m really sorry, Jackie, but if we’re being fair, you ate the rest of my sea-salt caramel ice cream.”
“That was in OUR freezer! Why are you keeping your ice cream in OUR freezer!”
“Because he practically lives here,” Aurora yawned as she entered the kitchen. “What’s going on? You woke me up.”
“I’m glad you’re here, Aurora,” Jackie replied, ignoring her question. “Because we need to set new rules in this place.”
“Jackie,” Bryce said sympathetically, “I’ll go on Uber Eats and order you another penne gorgonzola right now...”
“Forget it!” she said, holding up her hand. “Bryce. I tolerate you and all, but why are you always here? You have your own apartment. I’d KILL for my own apartment. But no, I have to put up with these four, and you’re here so much you make it five. And Elijah...”
“What did I do?” Elijah asked nervously.
“Why is Baz here all the damn time playing video games... in the living room... next to where I am trying to sleep!”
“We can get headsets...”
“But why is he always here!?”
“Jackie,” Sienna jumped in. “It’s not bad for us to have our friends over.”
“No, it’s not,” Casey agreed. “But Jackie does have a point.”
“Says you!” Jackie barked.
“What do you mean?” Casey gasped.
“Do you think I need to see Tobias stumbling out of your room shirtless when I get up to pee at two a.m.!”
“What?” Aurora’s eyes lit up. “Two a.m. is when that happens? Damn... I’ll have to set the alarm.”
“That’s my boyfriend, Aurora,” Casey teased.
“Oh, I don’t want him in the least! He’s all yours. But hey, eyecandy is eyecandy.”
“So,” Bryce asked, “if I take off my shirt more often when I come over, can I stay on the drop-in anytime list?”
“Yes!” Aurora said as all the others yelled, “No!”
Jackie turned to her with a look of disgust. “When the hell did you become Miss Thirsty?”
“Ahh...” she shrugged. “I haven’t had a date in a while.”
“Guys,” Casey attempted to get everyone’s attention. “Can we go back to before my boyfriend was sexually objectified...”
“Guilty!” Aurora grinned.
“I was going to say, maybe we should have more rules about other people coming over. No offense, Bryce.”
“Offence taken,” he nodded.
“I suppose it wouldn’t be the worst thing to have nights where we say no guests,” Sienna agreed.
“Quiet nights.” Aurora enthused. “That’s what we need, just nights where we know we can unwind a bit.”
“Since our schedules are so erratic, we can do them a month in advance...” Sienna offered.
“I think it’s a good idea,” Elijah agreed. “Why don’t we have roomies meeting this weekend. That doesn’t include you, Bryce.”
Bryce grasped his chest in mock horror. “I’m hurt!”
“Or we could divide the rent by six, then you can come and go as you please,” Aurora smirked.
“Ehh, I can see you all at Donahue’s,” he smiled. “Jackie, I am really sorry about your leftovers. But you know, if you ever want a little more privacy, you can use my apartment. I’m almost never there.”
“We know,” they all said in unison.
“That’s so nice of you!” Elijah smiled.
“I was only offering it to Jackie,” Bryce winked.
“Bryce, I’m sorry for having a meltdown on you. It’s just....”
“... just that you’ve slept ten hours in the past week, and you don’t always have much to look forward to, and I ... inadvertently ... took one of those rare treats away today.”
“Yeah,” Jackie smiled. “That.”
“I get it,” Bryce grinned. “You know, people always see my brilliance and this body, but they never see that I’m empathetic, too.”
“And humble,” Casey said, bumping his shoulder. “Don’t forget, humble.”
Just then, the doorbell rang. “Oh, no!” Casey said. “Who is dropping in now.”
“That would be the delivery man,” Bryce smiled. “While you guys were having your roommate's legislation session, I ordered Carmelina’s for all of us.”
“You did!” Elijah grinned. “Hell, I say we have a rule that Bryce still gets to come over whenever he wants!”
“If he’s bringing food,” Jackie smiled. “Thank you, Bryce.”
“Don’t mention it... roomie.”
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Tagging others separately.
