roommate!will
will, who after so long living alone, is sick of it. he's fed up of coming home to an empty house. he rationalises that it would be nice to have someone keeping an eye on the place while he's away for extended periods, but really he just wants a bit of company. then you come along, a friend of a friend, and just fit.
he's so used to living alone and doing all of the housework that when he comes home and finds the dishes he'd left out to dry all stacked neatly in the cupboard, he's genuinely surprised.
you two gel instantly, living hectic lives in the daytime and then coming home to your little quiet sanctuary. it just works with the two of you.
you spend cosy evenings together after long days. not having to keep up the pretence that you both aren't exhausted and instead, just lay out on the sofa together. there's a comfort between you both which is evident when he falls asleep next to you a few weeks after you move in. he's too big to move and you don't want to wake him so, before you head off to your room, you pull a blanket over him. when he wakes up in the early hours of the morning, he's struck by how long it's been since someone looked after him. it's such a small act but it overwhelms him.
soon he can't remember the flat without you in it. can't remember the last time he opened the door and wasn't met with the smell of your perfume which makes him dizzy still. your little touches are everywhere; a new trinket in the bowl he puts his keys in, actual food in the fridge, the smell of the fancy fabric softener you buy as a treat. he can't help but think of you when he catches the scent on his clothes.
you bully him for never cooking for himself until he finally gives in and lets you teach him how to make something more than pesto pasta. he's complaining about how long everything takes while you dice onions, when you gentle tell him to stop rushing through his life. he isn't expecting it and it stumps him as you tell him how much you enjoy the mindfulness of cooking, letting the world wait for a moment. it sticks with him more than you'd intended. when you come home after a work trip a month later, after texting will daily that you were sick of takeaways and sandwiches, he's got a home-cooked meal waiting for you.
it hits him one morning when he's passing a florists. he'd turned back to pick you up a bunch of tulips when he'd realised that isn't what roommates do and doubled back on himself.
he's completely fucked but you'd never know. he's so sly about his crush on you that you don't notice the way he softens when you walk into the room, or the way the creases by his eyes deepen when you laugh. he tells himself that he'll get over it. it's just a tiny infatuation because he hasn't lived with someone in so long, especially not someone so painfully pretty. he can be mature about it until it passes.
he throws himself even more into work when he realises he's developing feelings for you. you barely see each other which completely backfires on him because then you actively make plans for the two of you to spend quality time together when he is free and he doesn't have the heart to say no to you. or really want to.
you grab a coffee together and go for a walk one sunday morning. he watches you as you talk animatedly about work and a new project you're working on. he can't get over how passionate you are and it just makes the feeling in his chest grow. he finds himself holding every door open for you, wanting to pay for everything, letting himself pretend for a second that it's a date. he grips his coffee cup with both hands long after it's empty, just so that he won't be tempted to try and hold your hand.
he's still desperate to be a good roommate and friend so happily sits through your shopping hauls. you're showing him some new dresses when he says he's sure they're nice but can't visualise stuff like that when it's on the hanger. he regrets it instantly when he's swallowing hard as you come out in sundress after sundress, spinning for him and asking his opinion.
you realise that you still haven't really met most of his friends after months of living together and joke that he's embarrassed of you. he tells you that he is while grinning and texting the boys to see if they mind you coming for a drink that night. they clock it instantly when you walk into the pub together. the second you leave the table, they're grilling him about how long he's been into you.
