Lou was so happy that she couldn't even sit at the breakfast table. She stood beaming brightly at her best friends with her orange juice and scrambled eggs long forgotten. Zuri sat with her legs crossed on the stool as she leaned casually across the table and held her sister's hand up in the sunlight streaming in from the large windows of the apartment.

"And the record label is cool with this?" Zuri asked as she admired her sister's engagement ring.

Lou nudged Zuri with her elbow without looking away from her best friends. The smile on her face looked permanent.

"What, Lou? It's an important question," Zuri said as she released Emma's hand. She gave the couple a knowing look. "It's got to be an independent label thing. Mainstream wouldn't let their pretty boy get married this soon after releasing an album."

"She's right," Emma agreed. She hugged her hand to her chest and grinned. "I'm glad it's an indie label too."

Xander laughed as he wrapped his arm around Emma's shoulder and pulled her in for a hug. Zuri smiled. Lou shrieked and skipped around the table to squeeze Xander.

"I'm so happy for you two!"

"Too tight, Lou!" Xander's voice was strained as he patted his best friend's shoulder. He inhaled deeply when she let go and then smiled fondly at her. "We love you too, Lou."

Lou wiped some happy tears from her cheeks. "My favorite couple is getting married!"

Zuri took a sip of her orange juice and smacked her lips. She said, "Wow, Lou. You're really taking this well."

Xander and Emma's eyes widened. The couple moved slightly away from each other. Xander nervously scratched the back of his neck. Emma's shoulders and jaw tensed as she shook her head at her sister. Lou innocently looked at the group with the smile still on her face.

"Zuri, don't you have that thing…" Xander said awkwardly.

"Yeah, that thing you need to get to," Emma added.

Zuri bunched her eyebrows and shook her head. "No. This was my whole thing today. I even cancelled a meeting this morning. I figured you'd want me here when you broke the news." She glanced at Lou. "You know… the other news."

Lou blinked. "What news, guys?"

Emma sighed. She turned to her best friend and took both her hands into her own. She smiled kindly and spoke sweetly, "Lou, you are so, so special to us. Like Xander said, we love you"

"So much," Xander added as he gently put his hand on Lou's shoulder. "You're very special to us."

"And we've been through so much together," Emma said, tearing up. "I've changed so much because of you."

"Yeah, you were my first friend at camp. And you encouraged me to be a counselor. So much good in my life is because of you, Lou," Xander said as his own eyes glossed over.

"Aww!" Lou said with more happy tears escaping. She pulled one of her hands from Emma's grasp and pressed it to her heart. "You two are sweeter than peanut butter."

Xander and Emma looked over to Zuri. They gave the young woman pleading looks. Zuri sighed, tossing her head back slightly. She gave the couple a pointed look and said, "You're going to make me do this, aren't you?"

"Do what?" Lou asked, slightly confused.

Zuri raised her eyebrow at Xander. He gave her puppy eyes. She shifted her gaze to Emma, who gave her the look she had used on Zuri as a kid when she needed something from her.

"Fine."

Zuri uncrossed her legs and stood up from the table. She pulled Lou forward and motioned for her to sit. Lou looked to Emma, who nodded. Lou sat down on the stool and looked at Zuri with wide eyes. Her permanent smile started to fade.

"What's wrong, Zuri?" Lou asked. "Aren't we celebrating?"

"This lovely apartment that the three of you have had so many memories in. Graduating college. Finding your first jobs. Yadda yadda yadda. Those days are over now. They want to be married grownups now in a brownstone near the park, not an apartment building over a vegan donut shop," Zuri said in a tone as if she were explaining something to a child instead of an adult. She put her hand on Lou's shoulder and added, "You're on your own now, champ."

Lou's face looked pained as if she had been slapped. She gripped a placemat like it was a hanky. Her voice was high-pitched as she said, "Hold on a sec. Are you two going to move out?"

Zuri let go of Lou's shoulder and plopped down on the stool beside her. She said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "Like duh, Lou. They're getting married!"

Lou made a noise like a whimper as she dabbed her eyes with the placemat.

"Ooo, it's so painful," Emma cried as she buried her face in Xander's shoulder.

"It's for the best," Xander said into her hair as he hugged her.

"Painful! You two are breaking up with me using my own former Woodchuck!" Lou shouted as she stood from the stool.

"Don't think of it as breaking up with you," Emma said weakly as she looked over her shoulder at her friend. "Think of it as breaking our lease with you."

"I can't believe this! After I've given you the best years of my life!"

"Hopefully not the best years," Zuri muttered as she spread some butter on a piece of wheat toast.

"Don't be mad, Lou," Xander said as he directed his puppy eyed look at her.

Lou narrowed her eyes at him and huffed, "I can't afford a three-bedroom apartment in New York on my own, guys! I'm a teacher. And not at some fancy private school. Public. I can't afford this neighborhood."

"Don't worry, bestie." Emma stepped out of Xander's embrace. She said soothingly, "We've already started looking for people to take over our part of the lease."

"Yeah," Xander said. "We had an interview with a great guy this morning. And that nice lady who works at the jewelry cart seemed really interested."

Lou sniffled angrily. "So not only have you been planning on ditching me, you've been interviewing schmucks to shove into the apartment behind my back!"

"Of course not, Lou," Emma said as she reached out to her best friends. "We love you."

"Yeah, chill out, Lou," Zuri said as she munched on her toast. "You're like twenty-seven, woman. Time to get it together, shesh. Your friends are getting married. Find some roommates to help with the bills."

Emma saw Xander nod from the corner of eye. She slapped his chest with the back of her hand. Lou was speechless. She looked from Emma to Xander and then back to Zuri.

"That jewelry cart lady is shady, though. You don't want her in here," Zuri added nonchalantly.

Lou's chin trembled before she ran off to her room and slammed the door.

"Welp," Zuri clapped her hands together. She looked at the couple and said, "That went about as well as I expected. Now let me see the list of schmucks so I can weed out the nopes." She took a sip of her juice and then added, "Unless, of course, we're gonna go with the obvious choice."

Emma and Xander looked at each other and then back to Zuri. "Who's the obvious choice?" they asked simultaneously.

After setting down his heavy box of picture frames, Ravi paused at the bottom of the stairs of his new apartment. Well, the new to him apartment. His previous plan had been to continue living with his parents and Zuri in the penthouse that he had grown up in, but Emma and Xander approached him three weeks ago to ask for a favor. Now, he leaned against the row of mailboxes inside the building and tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for Zuri and Luke. Another full minute passed before Zuri and Luke strolled into the building. Zuri was carrying Ravi's winter jacket. Luke was carrying a box of Ravi's Lemon Mint Leaf scented candles.

"You two are supposed to be helping me move," Ravi said as he crossed his arms and leaned away from the mailboxes.

"We did," Zuri said. She threw his winter coat at him. "Yesterday. We're bored now."

"She's right. You've got too much stuff," Luke nodded. "We've been chillin' at that coffee shop across the street for the last twenty minutes."

"I've been walking around the block carrying that heavy box looking for you two for the past twenty minutes!" Ravi said in exasperation.

Zuri raised her eyebrow at him. "That's dumb. Why didn't you just go inside?"

"Because you have my keys, Zuri!"

"No, I don't." Zuri made a face at him. She pointed her thumb at her other brother. "Luke does."

Luke shifted the box of candles to one arm and reached into the pocket of his jeans. He took out the set of keys. "Got um," he said brightly and then stepped around Ravi. "Let's go."

Zuri took the winter coat from Ravi and followed Luke toward the stairs. Ravi rolled his eyes as he picked up the box of picture frames. Before Luke could climb a stair, he heard the echoes of people descending. He stepped back and waited for Emma and Xander to climb down.

"Hey guys," Emma greeted her siblings cheerfully.

Zuri rolled her eyes at Ravi. "Emma's been here the whole time, genius? She could've let you in."

"I figured they'd all be at work," Ravi said with a weak smile. He gave Emma a pointed look. "I was told that they couldn't help me move because of an important meeting."

"Literally none of them work together," Zuri said, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Ha," Luke said with a grin at his brother. "Dumb."

Xander and Emma gave each other a worried look. Emma fiddled nervously with her purse as she flashed a smile. Xander tucked his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels.

"Well…" Xander said, "We weren't exactly not busy… We sort of got sidetracked with Lou."

"But now we're not," Emma said quickly as she pushed her fiancé forward. She said through her teeth to Zuri and Luke, "Let's go."

Ravi furrowed his brow at their odd behavior. Zuri also looked confused, but she tossed the jacket over Ravi's shoulder and followed the couple to the door. Luke put the box of candles on the ground and took a step back.

"Thanks again, Ravi, for taking over the lease!" Xander called over his shoulder as Emma ushered the group out.

"Wait!" Ravi called out as rushed over to the door. He stuck his head outside as the group gathered on the sidewalk. "What's going on, Xander?"

Xander exhaled before he confessed, "You and Lou are about to get in a fight." Emma swatted his chest with the back of her hand. "Well, they are, sweetie."

"Uh oh." Luke raised his eyebrows. "Good luck." He snapped his fingers and said to the rest of the group, "I'm out. Waffles?"

Everyone murmured their agreement before turning their backs to Ravi and hurrying down the sidewalk. He muttered under his breath as he stepped back inside the lobby and collected his things. With effort, he was able to stack the box of candles onto the picture frame box and balance the jacket on top of it. Slowly, he made his way up the stairs. At the door, he lowered the box and knocked once he remembered that Luke still had his key.

"It's open!" Lou shouted from the other side of the door.

Ravi opened the door and was dumbfounded. His eyes scanned the living room as he felt his blood pressure rising. He frowned at the woman and said sternly, "Lou, no."

Lou was seated on the floor in the middle of the apartment with a bag of sand in her lap. Spread on the floor around her were small planks of wood and glass. She had a green piece of vegetation stuck behind her ear and five little bowls of water close to her side. Inside each of the bowls were two wading turtles for a total of ten. They had sleek, spotted shells and tiny tails.

"But they're so little," Lou cooed. "And they're so cute! We have to keep them. I need to keep them."

Ravi closed the door, leaving his stuff in the hall. He kept his eyes on the mess as he walked over to the kitchenette. "No," he repeated.

He glanced around the apartment. He had been over plenty of times in the past, but the look was a lot different now that Emma and Xander's furniture was gone. Now most of the decor was farmhouse and farm-animal related. It also smelled more strongly of cupcakes.

"There's no way the landlord would approve of this many animals," Ravi said, voice still stern.

"But the lease says small pets are allowed," Lou countered. She fluttered her eyelashes at him and gave him her best smile. "These are pretty small."

"Ten turtles, Lou!" Ravi shook his head. "Why did you wait until now to break the terms of your lease agreement? Now that I'm a party to basically a crime."

Lou rolled her eyes. She held up one of the bowls with the turtles and said, "How can something so cute be a crime?"

Ravi looked around the kitchenette. He spotted the source of the cupcake smell: a dozen red velvet cupcakes were cooling on the counter behind him. Red velvet cupcakes were his favorite.

"You were going to bribe me! That's basically an admission of guilt, Lou!"

"I was not...unless it's working…"

Ravi went back out into the hallway and grabbed his box of scented candles. He emptied them onto his jacket and then reentered the apartment. "Here, take this box. Pack them away," he ordered.

"Nah, I don't need a box," Lou said as she lovingly placed the bowl on the ground. "I'm building them this lil' ol' habitat. It's going to have water and sand and plants and…"

"The box is for you to return them to the pet store," Ravi said flatly.

"I'd rather get rid of you!" Lou gasped. "Plus, I didn't get them from the pet store. I got um from a guy… in an alley." Ravi gave her a look. Lou sighed. She slouched her shoulders and pouted. "You're going to say no to the goat too, aren't you?"

Ravi's eyes widened and he clenched his jaw. He dropped the box and crossed his arms. "Lou, don't tell me there's a goat somewhere in this apartment."

"Calm down. They wouldn't even let me bring it on the metro."

Lou crawled over to pick up the box. She flipped it over to make a small table. Carefully, she placed all five bowls on top of it. "And this is why I need the turtles. I finally have space for pets now that…" Her voice trailed off as she stared quietly into space.

"Now I see why Xander and Emma moved out," Ravi grumbled. "And here I was thinking that it had something to do with their engagement."

"This isn't about them! This is about how I need turtles," Lou snapped. She stood, careful not to knock over the turtles or step on her habitat supplies.

"But why?" Ravi asked as his mind quickly went through all of his life choices. Part of the reason he had lived with his parents for so long was because, although he didn't want to live alone, he didn't want to deal with any weird roommates.

"Because I do," Lou pouted, tilting her chin downward. She laced her fingers together in front of her and made her eyes glossy and wide. "We have three bedrooms, Ravi. Why can't one be for you, one for me, and one for the turtles?"

"Don't do that, Lou," Ravi said, his resolve to make her get rid of the turtles beginning to break. He hated how sweet she looked standing there with her ridiculous bowls of turtles. He hated the delicious smell of cupcakes on the counter behind him. He hated that she was about to win; because if he didn't start off strong with setting boundaries as her new roommate, then she would always get what she wanted.

"Do what?" Lou fluttered her eyelashes. She knew she almost had him, but then her confidence threw off her look of innocence and she smirked.

"No, take the turtles back!" He stuck his chin in the air and crossed his arms. "I already told Emma that I'm turning the third bedroom into an office space."

Lou put her hands on her hips, no longer pouting. She said with an attitude, "You're living with me, not Emma! She made her choice to leave. And I vote turtle room."

"You know what," Ravi huffed as he pointed his finger at her, "Keep your cupcakes. I'm starting to wonder why I agreed to live with you when I was perfectly content living in the penthouse."

"Yeah, I'm sure the ladies love coming over to watch movies with you, Zuri and your parents," Lou snarked.

"Lots of people live with their parents at twenty-five! And there I had a media room. Where's the media room here, Lou? Hmm. I don't think I'm inviting anyone over with forty turtles crowding up our home!"

"It's ten turtles!"

They narrowed their eyes at each other and a staring contest began. Neither of them said a thing as the turtles made soft splashing sounds in their bowls. Finally, Lou's eyes began to water, but not from staring. Her chin trembled and her shoulders sagged.

"You agreed to live with me because you're my friend and I need you! And I need my turtles! Because you're all I have now! Xander and Emma are gonna get married and have babies and not need me anymore," she wailed.

"Aww, Lou," he said softly. He opened his arm wide. She stepped over her supplies and walked into his embrace. He gently shushed her as she cried.

"You also care about my inability to pay rent without you," she hiccupped once she settled down. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand as she leaned away from him.

Ravi shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fine," he sighed. "The turtles can have the third room."

"Yeehaw!" Lou cheered. She turned to her turtles. "You hear that, babies? Papa's letting you stay."

"Oh goodness. I already regret this." He gave her a pointed look and said, "But I'm putting a desk in there so I can work."

"Uh huh, sure, whatever," she said as she walked over to the sink. She washed her hands and hummed to herself.

"And this doesn't mean that I'm going to be a pushover," Ravi said, hoping she was actually taking him seriously. "This is our shared space, now. I'm not a guest anymore."

"You got," she nodded absentmindedly as she took a container of homemade cream cheese frosting out of the fridge.

"And no goat," he said with his eyebrow raised.

She winked at him. "No promises," she said with a grin.

Ravi gave her a half-hearted glare as he brought the tray of cupcakes over to the island separating the kitchenette from the living room. Lou picked up a spatula and started icing the cupcakes.

"Besides, could you really deny me my turtles when your giant lizard is moving in?" Lou said as she nodded toward Mrs. Kipling, who was sprawled on the couch in front of a movie Lou had set up for her on Netflix. "By the way, I used to have fifteen turtles."

Ravi eyed Mrs. Kipling, and replied, "Oh, yeah. We better build that habitat fast."

Based on a prompt from Tumblr: "What do you mean we can't buy ten turtles the landlord said small pets were okay" AU