Jack unlocked to apartment door with the key Cassie had given him and walked in. Erin was flopped on the couch watching sitcoms.
"Erin" Jack greeted Cassie's roommate.
"Hey Jack" Erin said absently.
"Where's Cass?"
"She's still changing from work. She had to stay late."
"How's it going?" Jack grabbed a beer from the girls' fridge and sat down on the chair across from the couch.
"I'm beat" Erin complained. "I don't think I slept last night"
"You were asleep when I woke up." Jack told her, popping the can open with a slow hiss.
"How do you know?" Erin challenged him.
"You snore"
"Do not!" Erin objected.
"Do too" Jack grinned
"Do not" Erin fought back a grin of her own.
"Okay, so maybe it's not exactly a snore, per se…"
Erin raised her eyebrows.
"It's more like a…breathing thing"
"I do not!" Erin said as loud as was possible through clenched teeth.
"Do too" Jack smirked.
"Déjà vu"
Jack and Erin both looked up at the same time and spoke in unison. "Hey Cassie"
Cassie just stood there and smiled at them for a moment before she swallowed, mumbles "Excuse me" and stuck her head in the fridge, looked around, and slammed the door much harder than was necessary before moving on to the cupboards. Jack raised his eyebrows at Erin.
"She's on the rag" Erin whispered, as if that explained everything.
Jack squinted at her. "You don't ever do that do you?"
"Slam doors, or get upset for no apparent reason?" Erin asked.
"Both."
"Not that I know of."
"Good" Jack commented. He didn't mind Cassandra going all 'girly' on him, but Erin had quickly become a buddy. Granted, having a twenty year old girl for a 'buddy' wasn't exactly normal for Jack. But he wasn't one to overanalyze things.
"Think I should?" Jack asked, tilting his head toward the kitchen.
"I wouldn't" Erin warned, her attention shifting back to the TV.
"I've handled crying women before" Jack told her.
"With what success?" Erin asked sarcastically.
"It's not like I can't hear every word your saying." Cassie broke in from the kitchen.
Jack winced.
"And you don't need to walk on pins and needles either. Sheez Erin with all the testosterone in this room you'd think I was living with two guys."
Erin never took her eyes off the TV. "That, my dear roommate, is the result of all the adoring men who follow me around all day, kneeling at my feet and begging me to go out with them."
Cassandra made a sound suspiciously like a snort. Jack felt like the whole situation had blown over rather nicely without his interference, but felt he'd better check on Cass anyway and made his way into the kitchen. "You okay?" he asked casually, checking the freezer for ice cream as cover since Cassie wasn't big on doing the cry/comfort thing these days.
"I'm fine." Cassie suddenly noticed how few things there were to pretend to be doing in a kitchen the size of a shoebox.
"Sure?" Jack raised his eyebrows.
She sighed. "Just a little nostalgia Jack, you know, you and Daniel used to do that thing…"
Jack nodded. "I remember."
"I haven't heard from him in over a year." She continued.
"Cass I've known him longer than anyone. And I haven't spoken to him in two years." Jack busied himself searching the silverware drawer for a clean spoon, finally giving up and raiding the 'plastic pile' the girls kept around for their increasingly frequent 'emergency's'
"I know that." Cassie told him. "I just, miss the way it used to be. When everyone was together…"
"Yeah" Jack said. Apparently there was a lot of that going around "Me too" and suddenly there was nothing left to say. "Ice cream?" Jack suggested lightly.
"Yes" Cassie agreed emphatically grabbing the strongest chocolate flavor she could find and making for the living room.
"Get me one too" Erin requested.
"Get your own." Cassie retorted, flopping on the couch next to her lazy roommate.
"What flavor?" Jack asked Erin, since he was still in the kitchen.
"Whatever" Erin said agreeably, just happy to have him waiting on her.
"Hey Erin did you hear the news?" Cassie asked from around a mouthful of fudge.
"What?" Erin tore herself away from the TV, as Cassie was grinning and obviously had something worth listening to.
"Rhonda's stalking Jack" Cass announced.
"Rhonda?" Erin shook her head.
Jack handed Erin a carton of ice cream over the back of the couch. "Then again…" Erin turned around and looked Jack over appraisingly while accepting the proffered pint. "You put someone that gorgeous in a pair of blue jeans and…"
Jack rapped her on the head with his knuckles.
"Ouch!" She touched her head and glared at him.
"Behave yourself" Jack warned, returning to his chair.
Erin rolled her eyes and Jack muttered something about 'kids these days' causing Erin to retaliate by throwing her plastic spoon at him.
"Well it's nice to see the maturity level around here hasn't changed." Cassie smiled.
Jack stuck out his tongue.