Elunas: It's because I enjoy cooking myself ;) And I hate when I read stories and it says 'He went into the kitchen and cooked a delicious meal.' Why not describe why the person doing it is considered a good cook? Also, I don't really look at the word count until I'm done writing. If you compare chapters in any story of mine, you'd see that they vary greatly in word count. Remember the 20k+ chapters in What could have been? :D

Exploding helmets: The oil does protect butter from burning but not forever. It's a process I learned the hard way ^^ When butter burns, you can essentially start from scratch. So, half butter and half olive oil prevents that but you need to keep it stirring. Or, just use clarified butter.

Winterzwiebel: No, in this fic, she's a normal woman, albeit with a no-bullshit attitude.

Also, I forgot to say it in last chapter's note, the story is set in modern times, so no eighties (also fixed some of her canon background, which I had accidentally put in). And I fixed some things that took me three reads to get (I hope)

Now, enjoy :)

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and I write for my own pleasure and that of the readers.


"Morning, El." Max greeted her roommate, Jennifer and Stacy doing the same, while El only grunted as she flopped down on her chair.

"Sleep well?" Stacy grinned, El only grunting again. "Still not a morning person?"

"Blech." she barked and held her head in her hands, her eyes barely able to stay open.

"Mike's still asleep?" Jennifer looked into the direction of the hallway where his room was.

"No idea." Max shrugged. "We should start breakfast soon if we want to get to the campus on time."

"Good morning." a male voice startled them, given that it came from the front door.

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph." Stacy gasped and bit her fist, the other girls only looking confused at her before turning around to see a shirtless Mike entering the house.

"Holy crap!" Jennifer drooled. "Why can't my current boyfriend look like that."

El turned around to see what the fuss was all about and as soon as her eyes fell on their newest roommate, it felt like someone punched her in the gut. Mike was wearing tight shorts and no shirt, his hair flowing from his head and sweat running down his body. Since her eyes had been rather transfixed by his dick the first time she had seen him with less than usual clothing, El had time to appreciate his upper body more now and she liked what she was seeing.

"Did you go on a run?" Stacy asked, her eyes roaming his body as well.

"No, I did my exercise in the backyard." Mike told them. "It's always better when the air has this morning crispness."

"That's nice." Jennifer still almost drooled.

"Smooth." Max rolled her eyes, though she too was very impressed by his lithe physique.

"So, want me to cook breakfast after my shower or do you have your own ideas?" he asked, coming over to the table, which snapped El out of her gazing and feeling his body heat when he stood behind her.

"We usually eat cereal." Max shrugged. "Why?"

"I thought of making scrambled eggs and bacon, maybe some toast, if you have some." mike suggested.

"What kind of breakfasts can you make?" Stacy asked.

"French toast, Quesadillas, various fruit salads with flavor, English muffins." he shrugged. "And of course, pancakes."

"With batter from a carton?" Jennifer wanted to know.

"Only if I don't have time or ingredients to make the batter myself." Mike replied.

"I think, I'd like some scrambled eggs." Max said. "Anyone else?"

"Yeah." Stacy and Jennifer nodded, El giving only another grunt.

What's with her? Mike mouthed to the others.

Not a morning person. Jennifer mouthed back.

"I take it you're not a morning person?" Mike breathed into her ear, making her flustered.

"Blech!" she simply grunted again to his laugh.

"Well, I'll take a quick shower then and make some scrambled eggs.

"And bacon." Max called after him.

"Sure thing." he called back before the door closed.

"God, I love that guy." Jennifer laughed. "He even offers to cook for us, we don't even have to ask."

"Yeah, never let him leave, El." Max chuckled.

El could only smile at the thought, still too tired to really think straight. They heard the water going in the master bathroom and El subconsciously licked her lips, knowing how he looked naked. She shook her head out of her stupor, trying to wake up for real when the water stopped and a minute later, a semi-dried Mike appeared in the living room again, wearing only a towel around his waste and his shorts in his hands.

"I already made coffee, it's in the coffee machine." he told them.

"Why didn't you say so?!" Max shrieked and hurried past him into the kitchen.

"Do you girls go into the kitchen at all?" Mike laughed as Max reappeared, carrying a tray with five cups and the full can along with sweetener and creamer.

"Coffee." El took a cup and held it out once Max had put the tray down.

"There you go." Max said and handed her a filled cup, El simply sipping it and lifting her head in surprise.

"Oh my god." she gasped and quickly drank more of the hot liquid. "Why does it taste so much better than usual?"

"What the...?" Max had to agree when she tasted hers, without her usual sugar and cream. "HEY MIKE!"

"Yeah?" the lanky man asked as he returned, fully clothed.

"Are you freaking kidding us?" Max looked sharply at him.

"Excuse me?"

"Even your coffee tastes better than when we make it." Max pointed out.

"I put a cinnamon stick into it." he winked before walking into the kitchen to make breakfast.

"Seriously, why didn't any of us think of that?" El grunted, feeling a bit more awake now with coffee in her system. "Girls, just so you know, if any of you get problems with Mike, it's you who I'll kick out. I'll keep Mike."

"Noted." Jennifer laughed. "I'd give him a blowjob every morning if that's what it takes to keep him here."

"What?" El gasped, looking wide-eyed at her roommate.

"I'm kidding." Jennifer chuckled.

"Would be a different way to get some creamer into your coffee." Max said, causing the others to spit their coffees back into their cups.

"Ew!" Stacy gagged. "Max!"

"What?" Max laughed.

Mike could only hear shouts and laughter from the living room, smiling at the foursome out there. He still couldn't believe that he was living with four gorgeous women, one of them a, to his eyes, stunning beauty. After he set the bacon strips into the pan, he added butter into the second pan and while he waited for it to melt into a gold-brown mass, he emptied the egg carton into a bowl, scrambling the contents. He added some salt to the mix and after pouring the eggs into the pan, he cut a tomato into small pieces and added those as well.

Scrambling hard to avoid them from burning, he paused to turn the bacon and continued with the eggs until the food was done. He shut off the stove and got five plates out of the cupboard but before he could call for help, El walked into the kitchen, sniffing the air and smiling at him.

"Hey, good looking." he winked at her. "More awake now?"

"I, uh... I wanted to ask if you need help." she stammered, thrown off by his compliment.

"Can you bring the plates and cutlery to the table?" he asked her, pointing to the stack as he took another one to put the bacon on.

"Sure thing." she nodded and grabbed them.

When he was done, he took the pan and the plate with the bacon and brought both into the living room where the girls were already waiting. He put the bacon down and poured eggs on everyone's plate, taking the remainder when they all were supplied. After bringing the plate back into the kitchen, he joined them, all taking bacon to eat and dive into their eggs.

"Delicious." Jennifer hummed. "I like the tomatoes in it."

"Can I ask you guys something?" Mike looked at them and feeling a bit afraid when four heads turned to him at the same time.

"What's up, buttercup?" Max grinned.

"Why do you guys have a bread maker still sealed in its original box?" he wanted to know.

"It was a gift from my dad when I moved in here." El told him. "But since none of us can even make spaghetti without screwing them up, how would we bake bread?"

"By following the instructions on the package?" he winked at her. "Speaking of bread, is anyone home at lunch?"

"Not today." Stacy shook her head, Jennifer and Max as well. "Have classes lined up today."

"I'll be home." El said. "Only have morning classes today."

"Me too." Mike nodded. "Any lunch requests? And your fridge is about to feel empty, so a grocery shop would be in order."

"If you have time, we can go together, since you have a car." El said.

"Sure, you girls should make a list before you head out with stuff you need." Mike told them.

"Will do." Max nodded. "But we don't really have special requests anyway, we usually buy stuff that we need for ourselves on our own."

"Yeah, the grocery shop is for stuff we all need, like food and toilet paper and so on." Jennifer nodded. "The only thing we add to the lists is our preference for bath soap or shampoos."

"Alright." he said and got up. "Can any of you do the dishes? I gotta leave in a few minutes, I have to go to the library before my first class."

"Sure, I'll do it." El nodded and helped him clear the table.

"Thanks." Mike smiled at her and went to his room to grab his stuff. "See you girls later."

"Bye Mike." the girls shouted in unison and watched him leave.

"Really good job, Max." Stacy winked at their redheaded friend.

"Yep, I found him." she basked in their gratitude.

"Alright, list time." El proclaimed after finishing with the dishes. "What do we need?"

"Shampoos, lotions, bread, tomatoes, cucumbers, some meat." El listed, writing everything down.

"Tampons." Stacy said, El writing that down too.

"Poor Mike, having to buy tampons." Max laughed.

"I'll be with him." El chuckled too. "Though we might get strange looks when we buy them in bulk. And we may wanna refill our birth control prescriptions."

"Yeah, can you pick them up from the drug store?" Max asked. "Don't forget to take our letters of empowerment with you."

"Don't worry, I'll remember." El nodded.

"Snacks, water, juice." Jennifer added to the list.

"Razor blades." Max told them. "We're running out."

"Again? Jesus, how often do you shave your legs?" Stacy looked at Max.

"Not for the legs." Max smirked. "Lucas likes it smooth."

"You may wanna think wax." Jennifer suggested.

"Oh hell no." Max shook her head. "Way too painful."

"Yeah." El agreed.

They spent the next twenty minutes filling their list with stuff to buy. El thought that it was a good thing Mike had a car, otherwise carrying all that stuff home would have been impossible unless all of them went shopping together.


"Is this everything?" Mike asked, pushing the overflowing shopping cart forward.

"Yeah, at least from this store." El nodded, crossing out the last item on the list. "We have to stop at the drugstore on our way home. God, we're going to need a dozen bags."

"No, we don't, I have folding baskets in my car." he shook his head.

"Cool." she smiled at him and gently squeezed his hip, just because she felt to.

It took them almost ten minutes before the cashier had pulled all the items over the scanner, El wincing at the price they had to pay. As happened every time they went shopping, the total came in the three digit range before the decimal, El handing over her debit card to pay for it. Mike had put everything back into the cart and pushed it out of the store to his car, El hot on his heels. When he opened the trunk to take the folding baskets out, El was surprised at what she saw in there.

"You play guitar?"

"Yeah, I totally forgot to get that out of my car." he chuckled and unfolded the first basket.

The packing of the groceries was kinda like playing a game of Tetris, adding things next to and on top of each other and trying to make them fit as snugly as possible so they could get the most into a basket. The three baskets he had were quickly filled and placed before the guitar case, the latter being shoved to the end of the trunk so they could place the bottle packs next to the baskets.

Mike got behind the wheel and El joined him. On their way home, El made Mike stop at a drugstore on the way, Mike waiting in the car while El got whatever she needed, returning three minutes later with a small bag containing several boxes. Mike looked at her with a smile at the amount of boxes and started the car again.

"Birth control pills for me, Max and Jennifer." she shrugged.

Hearing her say that made him feel as if someone had taken an eggbeater to his stomach, though he didn't even know why. Of course she might have a boyfriend, she was way too beautiful to be single, even though he hadn't seen any boyfriend of any girl yet except Lucas. Wondering what made him feel that, since he doubted that she had any interest in him, he drove them back home, parking his car on the property and unloading the trunk, El carrying the bottles while he carried one basket after another into the kitchen, where El began putting stuff away.

"Need help?" he offered, holding the kitchen door open with one hand and she saw him holding the guitar case in the other.

"No, I got it." she shook her head. "Thanks, though."

"Alright." he shrugged and went to his room.

He booted up his laptop and opened his writing program to continue with his new book. He still had trouble making the words coalesce into the chapters he envisioned. He cursed under his breath, wondering why it was so hard for him to fill them, since the plot points were already done and the structure long finished on his digital story board. Sighing, he took the guitar out of the case and began to play a few notes, trying to get some inspiration from the music.

As El returned from the kitchen after finishing to put the groceries away, she heard him play the guitar. She smiled at the tune, feeling it soothing for her soul and she hummed with the familiar melody. Suddenly, he began singing softly and she melted at the sound, gasping at how great his singing voice was.

She stood outside his door for the entire song, her lips moving with the words he sang. She fought the urge of going in there and sit down with him just to sing, thinking that her own voice was more the wailing of a banshee and when he was finished, she returned to the living room, sitting down on the couch to watch TV.

"Has it started yet?" a breathless Jennifer asked when she rushed through the door, the other two girls right behind her, all carrying bags with takeout food.

"No, you're just in time." El grinned at her friend's eagerness.

"Nice!" Jennifer whooped and ran into the kitchen to get something to drink for herself and the others.

"To the Real Housewives." Stacy lifted her bottle.

"The Real Housewives." the other three echoed and watched as the episode started on TV.

"You girls to realize that this is all fake, right?" an appearing Mike asked them, leaning on the couch and watching the programming. "None of these conflicts are real, they're just for the camera."

"El, he has to move out again." Max gasped.

"I agree." El nodded. "Go pack your bags."

"I'm hurt." Mike held his chest.

"Seriously, leave this house right now." Stacy added.

"I'm going anyway." Mike chuckled and squeezed El's shoulder. "Reunification gaming night with the guys."

"Will you be back tonight?" El asked.

"Unlikely, we'll surely drink a few beers so I can't drive anymore." Mike shook his head. "Don't worry, you have your Chinese food for tonight and tomorrow you can eat cereal."

"And while you're there, tell Lucas I'll punish him tomorrow night for canceling tonight." Max called after him.

"Will do." Mike laughed.

"Heathen." Stacy grumbled after Mike had left. "He sins against The Real Housewives."

"Max, what's with you and Lucas?" El asked.

"Me and Lucas can spend nights together only once or twice a week, mostly on weekends and then he cancels on me to play games with the guys?" Max huffed. "I'm gonna ride him into oblivion tomorrow night."

"I don't think that he'll see it as a punishment." Jennifer laughed.

"He will once he starts begging me to allow him to come." Max smirked.

Laughing, the group dug into their food and watched the show.


"PALADIN!" a loud shout greeted him when Mike walked through the door after Lucas had let him in.

"Dustin! Will!" Mike shouted back, enveloping his friends in big hugs.

"Seriously, your hair makes you barely recognizable." Will commented.

"Why didn't you tell contact us before?" Dustin asked.

"Because when I got here, my phone broke and I couldn't save the numbers." Mike sighed. "And I had no idea you two were even here. And then I became so busy with college and making some money that I barely had time to do anything else."

"Yeah, I can understand that." Will nodded. "If I didn't have my scholarship, my job wouldn't pay even remotely enough to pay for college and cost of living."

"Tell me about it." Dustin agreed. "Luckily my mom had filled my college fund since I was a kid, so my job pays for the rest of the things I need beside tuition."

"Being in the police academy also doesn't pay well." Lucas handed everyone a beer. "Hence us three living together."

"Mike, Lucas said you're living with Max now, is that true?" Dustin asked.

"Not just Max, there are four women in the house in total." Mike said. "And the owner of the house..."

"You mean El?" Lucas asked. "What about her?"

"She's... something." Mike chuckled.

"Pretty?" Lucas grinned, seeing Mike's eyes glaze over.

"Stunning." Mike sighed. "I think she might be the most beautiful girl in the world."

"Aw, the paladin is in love." Will laughed.

"I am not!" Mike gasped.

"Guys, stop." Dustin told them. "Let Mike figure it out by himself."

"Screw you." Mike moped and took a long swig of his beer.

"Just like old times." Lucas laughed too now. "Mike does something, we call him out on it and he tells us we're idiots and we should shut up."

"Screw you too." Mike complained but could only smile.

Will had already set up the table for their Dungeons and Dragons session but told them that they would play after dinner had arrived. They had ordered pizzas, using Mike's old preferences to order for him and he was pleasantly surprised when he opened his box, seeing his favorite topping of ham and chicken.

As they ate, they all noticed that their interaction was the same as before, as if the last two years hadn't happened. Mike ate his pizza the fastest and sat down at the table, shaking out his wrist for rolling the dice and waiting for the others to join him. Dustin would lead the campaign, unlike in the past, but Mike promised them to write another campaign or two for future sessions.

They began playing, Dustin laying out the story and all of them getting into their characters. Lucas suggested that they could ask Max and maybe some of Mike's other roommates to play with them, but when Mike told them that their favorite TV shows were the Bachelor and Real Housewives, all them quickly shut that idea down to save themselves from having to suffer through a nightmare like that.

"Alright, I think we should stop here." Dustin announced when their characters were going to sleep.

"Already?" Lucas looked at the clock. "It's still early."

"It's one in the morning." Dustin deadpanned. "We still can play some video games."

"Hell yeah." Will whopped and jumped on their couch. "We can play some Left 4 Dead."

"I vote BroForce." Dustin laughed.

"BroForce sounds good." Mike nodded. "I heard it was fun."

"Alright." Will conceded and loaded up the game, handing out controllers to everyone.

For the next two hours, the guys played the game, each also drinking a few beers an eating snacks. At three-thirty, the TV screen showed only the game credits, the people in the room asleep and sprawled on their respective seats, Mike and Lucas in armchairs while Dustin and Will were on the couch, Will snuggling against Dustin in his sleep.

A few minutes after seven, Mike woke up, seeing the others still asleep. He grinned and snapped a few pictures of his cuddling friends, to use as blackmail if the need arose. He somewhat wished that Lucas was snuggling with one of the others, since a picture of him like that would be a great blackmail tool when it came to making Lucas afraid of Max's reaction to something like that.

"Dude, why are you up?" a sleepy Lucas asked him.

"My neck is killing me." Mike groaned, holding the right side of his neck which had bunched the entire time he had slept.

"Ugh, mine hurts too." Lucas agreed when he felt the pain in his neck. "I'm going to head into my own, comfortable bed."

"Me too, though mine's a short drive away." Mike chuckled.

"Damn, I need to take a few pictures of these two." Lucas laughed quietly.

"Already did that." Mike winked. "Hey, want to come with me? Max mentioned that you canceled on her yesterday for our gaming night but that you had to spend today with her?"

"That's a good idea." Lucas nodded. "Let me just grab a few things."

"Oh, and I was supposed to tell you that she wants to punish you for canceling on her in favor of playing games with your friends." Mike added. "She said you knew what that meant."

"I do." Lucas chuckled. "Oh, my poor penis."

Mike laughed and waited while Lucas packed a change of clothes, having everything else already at Max's. While they walked to his car, Lucas typed a message on his phone, sending it to the D&D group he had created in WhatsApp, telling the other two that he was going with Mike to his house to see his girlfriend. Mike got behind the wheel and began driving, his tired eyes barely able to stay open and focus on the road.

"Jesus, never again." Lucas gasped after Mike finally parked his car in front of the garage.

"What, we got here." Mike shrugged.

"Yeah, but you almost drove off the road twice and rear-ended a truck." Lucas shuddered.

"I'm tired." Mike shrugged and unlocked the door, finding the house quiet.

"Night Mike." Lucas said, feeling a bit ridiculous, given that it was already morning and light out.

"Don't make too much sound with Max." Mike chuckled. "El is a really not a morning person."

"I know." Lucas laughed. "She once almost bit my head off when I dropped a glass at six-thirty and woke her up."

Mike went into the bathroom and took off his clothes, deciding to take a quick shower to get the grit of the night off of him. Feeling refreshed but still tired, he dried himself off and simply grabbed his clothes, holding them in front of his lower body to avoid anyone seeing his private parts on his way to his room.

Unbeknownst to him, El had also woken up due to pressure on her bladder and as she left her own room, she saw Mike walking towards his, his eyes closed and his clothes held against his naked body. She took a step to the side and he simply walked past her, not even realizing that she was there and El felt heat pool in her abdomen when she saw his naked behind, almost as tight as his front was.

With a shaky breath, she went into the bathroom and did her business, returning outside where she heard a strange noise coming from Max's room. She walked quietly to her room and listened, hearing that, apparently, Lucas had come by as well, if the bumping noises of her bed and the both male and female grunting were anything to go by.

Returning to her room, her eyes stayed on the door to Mike's, wondering how it would feel if he were her boyfriend and she would be in his arms, feeling him move inside her. Would she feel better, waking up in the morning to get some sex? Or would she fall asleep better, knowing someone loved her the way she wanted to be loved?

Thinking to herself that she probably wasn't his type, she sighed and went back to bed, her tiredness quickly lulling her back to sleep.


Thoughts?

There will be some short time jumps in this, I won't describe every single day in their lives ^^

Review please :)