Realistic or Modern Roomies [Caffiene Freak & d a n g e r]

[d a n g e r]

"Oh, a double date..." Gen trailed off. She knew that her and Jack were there just to smoothen over Todd's mistakes. But the aspect of even slightly being on a date with Jack made her smile. She was happy for Christina. At least she was going on a date with the guy she liked who had enough balls to ask her out. "Yep, let's go back then." Imogen sighed before making her way out of the store.

(Time skip?)

 

[d a n g e r]

That weekend...

Imogen was ready. Her makeup was done, plus she had dressed up for the dinner. After all, her mother always loved the girl to put some effort into her appearance. Especially considering that Gen only visited once every two months. It was difficult to fit in the time for all the family, as they would either be too busy or Gen would be maintaining her university work to a minimum.

A sigh was released through her mouth and the girl stepped out from the hallway. Her head peering over to Jack's room, thus deciding to just walk into his room. The thought of being invited or possibly being asked, an absent thought in the girl's brain.

Gen knew how overwhelming her family was, so bringing a guy down to the dinner with her wasn't realistically the most intelligible idea. Her little sister, Mimi would surely be harassing Jack to know whether the two were going out. But then also, her family would be asking more questions than Imogen had hair on her head. The girl could only hope he could handle it - because at times, she found it hard to do just that.

"C'mon. There's a taxi waiting outside, Energy drink boy." She teased, thinking of another way for her family to embarrass her.

 

[Caffeine Freak]

"Don't call me that." Jack scolded, draining the last remaining drops of his Monster® before setting off after Imogen. He'd considered getting changed, but if Imogen's family was anything like her, then perhaps the safest bet was to just keep on the Hollisters.

The cab ride felt about as pleasant to Jack as one would feel in a waiting room before open heart surgery. Every inch they neared closer to their destination made him every bit more nervous, and every cent that clocked in the meter made him every bit more guilty of his financial crisis.

"Your parents know I'm coming too, right?" Jack said at last. After buying colorful clothes, helping Imogen choose lingerie, and Todd - Jack decided he'd had enough surprises for one day.

 

[d a n g e r]

Pressing her lips into a thin line at the boy's question, Gen fiddled with her fingers. She was going to answer honestly. "Well, I told them that I was bringing someone. I just didn't tell them that I was bringing my roommate. Who was a guy. Who was named Jack. And wasn't Christina." Usually she would invite Christina to the family dinners, and now that Jack would suddenly come along... well, that would be a misunderstanding. She'd have to talk to her mother beforehand.

Bracing herself for Jack's unpredictable reaction, Imogen couldn't help but look to the meter. For each of the journeys to her parent's house, her dad would pay for the fare for Gen so she would hate for Jack to feel like he had to contribute. The taxi ride was an estimated 15 minutes anyway, so they had time.

 

[Caffeine Freak]

"Oh." Was Jack's reply, Imogen's response wasn't exactly helping his nerves. "What's your family like?" He said at last, deciding that he should at least know what he'd be up against. With Jack's parents living across the country, he had come to forget what familial comfort felt like - though Imogen always did feel like a sister to him. No, wait- that's... messed up.
Jack suppressed the thought, decided that thinking in general was just a bad idea until the ride was over.

 

[d a n g e r]

Beginning to tap her fingernails against the glass in a nervous manner to his question, the taxi driver then glared at the girl, causing her to stop immediately. "Uh, their cool, I guess. They're a bit overwhelming when it comes to meeting new people. My little sister is the worst, she will literally question you about everything." Gen emphasised, knowing her family all too well. "You'll be fine, though. If there's something you don't want to answer or something you don't like, they won't take offence." She promised flashing him a reassuring smile.

 

[Caffeine Freak]

Jack nodded, trying to at least settle back in his seat.

Soon enough, the taxi arrived, and Jack was finally face to face with the building he hadn't quite expected to ever see. Answer questions and eat - how hard could it be? "Ladies -who the homeowners actually know- first." Jack made a sweeping gesture toward the house, figuring it would probably be a good idea to let Imogen approach first. That left the dilemma: should he walk next to her, or slightly behind her? If he walked next to her, they'd look like a couple - but if he walked behind her, it would look like they'd look like a couple trying to hide the fact that they're a couple.

Well, perhaps he was overthinking it just a little, but nonetheless Jack kept a painstakingly accurate diagonal position from Imogen the whole way up to the door.

 

[d a n g e r]

As Gen walked towards the door, Jack following her, the girl sighed, tempted to say: "I hope you're ready" but thankfully retracting from those words. After all, the last thing she wanted was for Jack to be uncomfortable and say something that her family wouldn't take so lightly.

Exhaling, she rang the bell, having heard it a thousand times before. After the second beat, the door opened to reveal Gen's parents, her dad on the left side whereas her mum on the right. "Imogen!" The two adults exclaimed in unison, her mum giving her the first hug before the girl's dad did the second. Imogen hadn't visited them in a while, so this occasion was something that her parents had been looking forward to.

After her parents finished their hugs with their daughter, it was then that they noticed the young man standing a bit away from the door. Both of the two blinked at him, their eyes drawing up and over his appearance. Gen's mum automatically had a grin upon her lips. "Who is this, Gen?" The lady asked, eyes now on Gen.

"Oh yeah. This Jack, Jack these are my parents." Brows raised, her mother smiled to welcome Jack, although her father held his hand out for him to take it into shake. "Nice to meet you, son." Her dad greeted, whereas her mum only looked over to Jack with slight disapproval. "So what happened to Christina then?" At this, Gen rolled her eyes, knowing that exact look on her mum's face.

She didn't approve. But that wasn't really a matter for the brunette anyway. "She was busy. So I brought Jack." Gen handled, smiling flatly to her mother before the couple before them ushered the younger two inside. "By the way... uh, Jack, is it? I made pot roast for dinner, is that okay with you?" The woman asked, brows furrowed whilst she watched him more, alike he was her prey for the remainder of the evening.

 

[Caffeine Freak]

"That's fine with me, Mrs Carmicheal." Jack nodded, eyes squirming to avoid contact. Once Imogen was well through the door, Jack followed suit, eyes roaming about the house. "This is a nice place you got here." He mused, though Jack's standards for a clean home were pretty low on the radar. "Imogen's told me quite a bit about you guys, it's... uh, nice to finally meet you." His eyes were still hanging on the ceiling, deliberately hopping over everybody else's gaze. While searching for something else to say, Jack remembered something. "So... where's your little sis, Gen?" He asked, managing to keep his look straight for at least a moment.

 

[d a n g e r]

"Oh, she's--" Gen's mom was shortly interrupted by the loud rumble of two feet running down the staircase. Sure, Mimi was a petite girl, but she sure as hell knew how to make both noise and an entrance. If you didn't know any better, you'd think it was her falling down the stairs, but sure enough, it wasn't. "Gennnyyy!" Her sister shouted. Rolling her eyes, Imogen opened up her arms to hug the little girl, before swinging her around mid embrace. Setting her down, Gen caught her breath before introducing her sister.

"This is Mimi. Mimi, this is Jack." The little girl faced Jack, her head tilting to the side as she looked up at him. Her face then lit up, which almost definitely was not a good thing. It was almost an indication that Mimi was about to say something either personal or downright awkward. "Ohhhhh, this is Jack? Y'know, Jack, my sister talks about you a lot. She's always talking about your--" Covering her hand over her sister's mouth so only muffled words could be heard, Gen nervously chuckled.

It was a bad idea to tell your little sister about the guy you liked. Especially if she was a blabber mouth. "Hehe, is dinner ready, mom?" She asked, swiftly changing the subject. "Y-yes, darling. Just through here." The woman ushered everyone into the dining room. Going to help her mother serve, Imogen moved into the kitchen with the woman. Her dad sat across from Jack as well as Mimi who sat beside the guest. "So Jack, what do you study?"

 

[Caffeine Freak]

Jack shared Imogen's nervous chuckle, giving a discreet wink to praise her quick thinking. Once he had been seated, however, Jack couldn't shake the feeling that Mimi was watching him, and so he practically leapt at the question posed by Imogen's father. "Performing Arts. I... hope to be an actor when I'm older, heh." He idly fingered his collar. "Gen's never told me what you guys do as a job," His hand drifted, posing the question.

As he did so, he snuck a sideways glance at Mimi, the resemblance in both personality and appearance to Imogen was unmistakable.

 

[d a n g e r]

"Interesting." The man said, but then raising his brows to hear the question to which Jack had returned with. A man of curiosity. That was a good thing. Especially for Imogen. "Oh, I'm an engineer and my wife is a school teacher." He motioned towards a set of tools sitting on a small table in the corner. "Are you into cars, Jack?" Just then, both Imogen and her mother came out from the kitchen, concealed bowls in their hands. They placed the items upon the table before going to sit down, Gen sitting beside Jack and her mother, sitting with her old man.

They weren't much a so a religious family, which lead to her saying, "help yourself" before everyone waited for Jack to dig before anyone else. "Gen's roommate, huh... what do you guys get up to then?" Her mum asked, slicing the beef up. Gen could only glare at the woman, knowing she that the question was directed at Jack personally.

 

[Caffeine Freak]

"Yeah, I'm hoping to get a Lamborghini for my birthday." Jack joked, knowing full well that he'd be lucky to score a rust bucket until his career started. Rather eager to try the food splayed before him, Jack didn't hesitate before selecting a sizeable portion of each dish. Months of pot noodles and energy drinks had made him forget what real food actually tasted like. It was upon the question Gen's mother slipped in that Jack found himself swallowing before he even put anything in his mouth. Hesitating wasn't an option with this particular question, so Jack just opened his mouth and ran with what came out. "Oh... well, you know, not much to do with all this studying. Imogen's pretty helpful when I have questions and stuff too, so..." Yeah, helpful at hogging the bathroom - Jack thought pointedly, internally denying that he ever did it himself. He didn't lie though, Imogen had hauled him out of quite a few holes that he had dug himself into.

Jack put a small piece of beef in his mouth, stealing a glance sideways at Imogen, wondering how she would answer her share of the mother's question.

 

[d a n g e r]

At Jack's previous joke, the man chuckled. After all, he remembered his own financial situation at that age. He really just survived on what he had, yet it wasn't until he had met his wife did he provide for more than he needed. Listening to what Jack had to say about 'what they got up to', she chewed upon her beef to which was moderately swallowed down at just the right timing. Her family could ask questions for decades, so Jack would have to bear with it only a while longer. Thankfully. "Yep, and Jack helps me with a lot of my own work as well..." Like, criticise me for a living, or walk in when I'm in the shower almost daily. She thought, glancing to Jack and smiling at him sourly.

"Do you have any brothers, Jacky?" Mimi asked, the little girl's eyes up looking up at him. She would normally find a nickname for anyone, and as much as it wasn't appropriate considering how personal she was with the person, it was dang cute. "Mimi! I'm sure that if Jack wanted you to call him that, he would've asked." Gen's mum stated, shaking her head at the little girl's behaviour. "Sorry, Jack. But feel free to answer."

 

[Caffeine Freak]

"It's fine. Really." Jack held up his hands before turning to Mimi. "No, it's just me. Heh." It was then that he caught Imogen's pointed smile, and shrugged, whatever the girl was thinking remained a mystery to him.

Turns out the previously thought apocalyptic questions weren't all too hard to answer after all, Jack thought, slicing himself another square of beef. With his own parents always out of town, Jack had all but forgotten what it was like to eat in such an intimate setting. He rather enjoyed it, even after he'd just been called 'Jacky', which he'd certainly never let Imogen call him in a billion years.

 

[d a n g e r]

Pressing her lips together firmly, the woman decided to let Mimi off - but only at the expense of the guest in the house. After time had passed of the group continuing to eat what was upon their plates, Tamison was surprised at her family. By now, they would have embarrassed her by telling Jack some tragic story about her childhood, or worse, baby pictures. The girl only shivered at the thought whilst she took everyone's empty plates into the kitchen. Whereas, Mimi was causing mischief as always.

Poking Jack on his elbow, the next words that she spoke were in a hushed tone to prevent her sister from hearing. "Are you and my sister boyfriend and girlfriend? Because you live together and that's what a girl and a boy do when they love each other very much." Mimi said, making quite a good yet incorrect point for a 7-year-old.

 

[Caffeine Freak]

Jack, his attention drawn via poking, opened his mouth to explain what a roommate was and the concept of rent - but decided in the same moment that it would be much easier to just nod along. "Yeah, sure, I'm your sister's boyfriend." He whispered back. Once the sentence was out of his mouth, Jack immediately began to regret not quite thinking it through very well.

Instinctively searching for tinder to the conversation, Jack prompted Imogen's parents. "I don't suppose you guys would have any stories about Imogen's childhood, would you?" The implications such a question could have for Imogen's dignity didn't happen to broach his mind.

 

[d a n g e r]

Mimi's face lit up as Jack somewhat admitted him and her sister dating. Yay, I can finally be a flower girl now! The little girl grinned at Jack before turning her attention to her dolls secretly stashed under the table. This way, she could play without missing any of the 'grownup talk' that she barely understood at times.

The two of Gen's parents were in astonishment as Jack talked about their older daughter's childhood. Normally, her old man would be the first to talk about it, but perhaps not. "Sure! In fact, we've got a whole album!" And that was enough for Imogen to come rushing back into the room, her face in almost horror as her gaze went from the large album to Jack. Why did he have to say that? He did it on purpose, the ass. She thought, knowing that there was no stoping her parents once they started.

Pushing the album book over to Jack, her dad grinned at the first picture, it was labelled: Imogen's first bath. And technically the bath was a sink, so all the girl's baby parts were showing. "This was little Imogen's first bath. She was so scared by the water that she thought she'd drown." Her dad stated, before revealing, "Actually, even now Gen can't swim. Can you, love?" Gritting her teeth together she just said, "No dad."