Disclaimer: All stories are individuals of themselves and are unrelated to each other.
Gale peels his pillow from over his head and squints into the darkness at his nightstand. Before his vision comes into focus he hears another frustrated scream from the apartment next to his, "Mother fucker!" Gale rubs at his face and checks his alarm clock. It's 3:12 AM.
He rests the pillow back over his head and turns over with a groan. Whoever just moved in next door has been bitching and moaning for a good two hours now. Every once in a while he'll hear something that sounds like pipes clatter together, and then another scream of frustration follow immediately after.
It happens again and the girl nearly explodes, "You've got to be kidding me!"
With a huff Gale pushes himself out of bed. Half asleep and half-clothed he stumbles out into the hallway. His mother raised him not to complain, but he's exhausted. He walks next door and lifts his hand, knocking loudly on the apartment door beside his.
It takes a minute but soon the door swings open. Gale isn't sure what or who he expected, but this girl was definitely not it. She's wearing pajama shorts that are so small her legs look like they go on forever, and her golden hair is tied into a bun that's going to be a real bitch to undo whenever she decides it's necessary.
Her eyes drift to his bare chest before she quickly makes eye contact. "Hi," she squeaks out.
"Gale. Neighbor," he murmurs. "You're loud."
"Oh," her face turns pink. "Sorry about that." Gale goes to tip his head at her and leave, hoping that she gets the message, but she keeps talking. "I moved in today and realized I didn't have a bed frame. So I bought one from IKEA and I swear it isn't making any sense."
Gale blinks a few times, scrubbing at his face. "Put your mattress on the floor," he says. "And go to sleep."
She frowns. "I can't stop now that I've started."
He blinks another time. "What?"
"I'm too angry," she tells him. "I'm an educated human being, okay? I graduated high school a year early, I'm in honors classes at school. But I can't put a freaking bed frame together?" She shakes her head at him. "Absolutely not. I'm finishing this tonight."
Gale scratches his chest and squints at her. He doesn't have anything to do tomorrow, meaning he can sleep in. "Need some help?"
He learns her name is Madge, that she's going to the university down the street, and that it takes more than directions that make absolutely no sense to deter her from what she wants. Apparently it's a lot easier to get the bed frame together with two people though, because there's significantly less foul language than he was hearing earlier.
"Did I wake you up?" she asks as he tightens a screw. Gale looks at her through his dark bangs and finds her looking sheepish. He shrugs. She didn't wake him up, per say, but he couldn't fall asleep because of her either. "Sorry."
"It's alright."
He also learns that she's quiet. Not the awkward type of quiet though, the kind that's comfortable. He doesn't mind. He comes from a family of talkers. His mother is curious abouteverything and his baby sister rambles on for centuries. The quiet is nice. The quiet is welcoming.
"Let me help with that," she says, scooting across the hardwood floor to help him hold the beam up so he can tighten the screw better. Her soft hands brush his and he smiles. "Thanks for helping me."
"I'm good with my hands," he tells her.
Madge arches an eyebrow. "Oh? What else are you good with?"
Gale throws his head back in a laugh, putting down the tools in his hands to turn to her. "I didn't mean that to be sexual," he says. "I swear."
"Me neither," she feigns innocence. "You have a dirty mind, Gale."
He laughs another time, shaking his head at her. She's cute. She's really cute.
They work efficiently, something that Gale really admires. Madge is good at saying where she wants to go next, what she wants to happen next.
It's not even 4 in the morning by the time they finish the frame. "It's a good thing you're here to help," she tells him as the lift the mattress. "Because this is heavy and I'm not sure I would've gotten it up without help."
He grins. "So I am good for something after all."
"Good with your hands, good with lifting heavy things," Madge goes off as though she's had this list in her head forever. "Good to look at."
He laughs another time. "Alright."
"Hey, you're the one that never put a shirt on," Madge says as they push the mattress into position. It falls into the frame perfectly and she waits a moment before throwing her hands up in victory. "Yes!" Madge starts dancing on her toes. "Yes, yes, yes!"
"Wait," Gale stops her. "We have to check it." She drops her hands in sudden panic and waits for him to elaborate. Instead of speaking he takes a step backwards before propelling himself onto the mattress. He squeezes his eyes shut and prepares for the frame to collapse, but when it doesn't Madge shrieks in victory again.
She, too, propels herself onto the mattress. Gale bounces a little with the force and then turns to look at her. She's laying with her head turned in his direction and she has a sleepy smile on her face.
"Thanks," Madge murmurs. Her eyes drift shut. "I appreciate you."
He watches her for a second. The gentle curve of her long eye lashes, the faint freckles that are like stars across her nose, the soft pink of her cheeks. "Hey," Gale nudges her, suddenly feeling his own eyes getting heavy. "We should put the sheets on so you can go to sleep."
"Mm," Madge answers. "I'm fine here."
And before he can say anything else, Gale falls asleep too.
They wake in the morning in the same position they fell asleep. They're both lying on their stomach with their heads on their crossed arms, facing one another. There are still no sheets on the bed, no pillows or blankets.
When Gale opens his eyes Madge is also blinking herself awake. She takes a deep breath and stretches before curling back down, turning more onto her side to face him.
"Good morning," she says softly.
Gale's voice is raspy as he responds, "Morning."
Madge smiles. "You hungry? I can make breakfast."
They both move to sit up at the same time. "I should go," he tells her. "I didn't mean to fall asleep on your mattress–I'm sorry."
"It's okay," she stops him. Before he can climb from the bed she reaches out and rests her hand on his forearm. "Stay. Let me make breakfast. As a thank you." Gale hesitates. He technically doesn't have anything to do today but he feels like a burden. But then again, she did keep him up last night. Not that he can say he regrets that at all, but whatever. "Please?"
He pulls his arm back so her hand falls. Madge looks a little disappointed, but then he nods his head into a yes. "Sure," Gale says. "But only if I can take you out to dinner tonight."
Her eyes light up and a smile blossoms on her face. "Are you going to wear a shirt?" Madge asks, looking at his chest another time.
Gale laughs.
He definitely doesn't regret knocking on her door last night.