Jesse wakes up freezing. He rolls over and checks the time, disappointed that it's three in the morning, four hours before his alarm would go off. Sitting up, he looks over to find Chazz no longer next to him as he had been when he went to sleep. Jesse frowns and turns on the light on the makeshift bedside table, and looks around the room.
Chazz is standing at the window. It's open and Chazz is facing the outside. Jesse gets up and walks over to Chazz. As he comes up beside him, Chazz doesn't react, only stares blankly outside.
"Chazz?" Jesse pats him gently on the shoulder. Chazz turns and looks at him. It takes a couple seconds before he actually seems to see Jesse, however.
"Oh, hey," Chazz says, looking a little confused but otherwise unfazed by the situation.
"What are you doing up?" Jesse asks.
"I-" Chazz glances back at the clock and frowns. "I'm not sure. Do I usually sleepwalk?"
"Not that I've noticed," Jesse says.
"It's freezing in here."
"Yeah," Jesse reaches out and closes the window. "I don't know how long you've been standing here, but it can't be good for our heating bill or us."
"Sorry," Chazz says. Jesse grabs his hands and pulls him back toward the bed.
"It's not your fault," he says with a chuckle. "Don't worry, I'll warm us up."
Chazz turns a little red at that, but follows Jesse back to bed.
The following morning is New Years Eve, and Jesse heads out for the day. He's not too pleased with the timing of his obligations, but it works in Chazz's favor. He has something planned for that evening, since it's been an entire year since they first kissed, and he needs time to set up without Jesse around.
As he's preparing for the next two hours of baking, his phone rings. It's his mother. Again. She's called every day since Christmas Eve, and Chazz knows it's because this is the first time in years nearly the entire family couldn't make it out for celebrating, but he had run out of things to talk about with her the second day she called. Chazz sighs, knowing she'll keep calling all day until he answers, despite him having asked many times that she just text him.
"Good morning, mother," Chazz says, setting down the phone next to the flour and turning it onto speaker.
"Hello, darling," Charlotte says. "You sound more annoyed every time I call, it's beginning to hurt my feelings."
"I'm just busy." Chazz sighs. "And I spoke to you last night, I don't really have anything new to say."
"We don't have to have an exciting conversation everytime we speak," she explains, sounding a little irritated with him. "It's just about getting this time together, since we can't be together in person. Jesse doesn't act like I'm burdening him when I call."
"Well, Jesse's polite and you're not his mother," Chazz says, measuring out the ingredients and separating the dry and wet into different mixing bowls.
"Did he say I was bothering him?"
"No, he didn't say that. I'm just saying-"
"How is everything going? The apartment, living together?" Charlotte interrupts, which means she's offended and wants to move on to the conversating part of the phone call.
"The same as yesterday, and the day before."
"Except your attitude gets worse with every passing day, which is something Jesse did say," Charlotte says. "At least, he implied it. So what's wrong, Chazzerbee?"
Chazz mixes the bowls together, and sighs loudly enough for his mother to hear.
"Nothing. I just hate the apartment. I'll get over it."
"Do you need help getting out of your lease? We can find you somewhere better-"
"No, I don't need any help," Chazz says as he finishes mixing and goes to preheat the oven. "I can survive a year in this place. We know better now, always check everywhere out in person."
"So it's still a 'we' for next time?"
Chazz raises an eyebrow and picks the phone up, heading into the living room with it.
"Yes, that's the plan…"
"Good to hear! I know you've been arguing a lot more, but that's just how it can be, getting used to sharing a space. I like Jesse, definitely try not to ruin this relationship."
Chazz is ready to hang up on her.
"Why is he talking to you about that stuff?"
"Oh, don't get upset!" Charlotte says dismissively. "I'm very good at getting information out of people."
Chazz doesn't think it's particularly difficult to get Jesse talking, but he doesn't say that.
"Listen, I have to go, I've got a lot to do today," he says instead.
"Alright. Well, I suppose I'll wait a few days before calling again. I don't want to bother you," she says.
They say their goodbyes and Chazz turns his phone to 'do not disturb'. Today was going to be a day of nice and quiet Chazz-time.
When Jesse gets home that evening he can smell his favorite foods wafting through the door into the hall. Curiously he opens the door and finds a dimly lit apartment and a cute setup on the coffee table. The couch is pushed back just a little and Chazz is sitting on the floor, leaning against it, playing on his phone.
Jesse kicks his shoes off and sets his things down on the kitchen counter. Chazz glances up then and grins, tossing his phone to the farthest end of the couch and getting to his feet. He meets Jesse halfway to the living room and gives him a quick smooch.
Smiling, Jesse takes in the whole set up. The dishes aren't their normal set. The only word he can think of to describe them is 'fancy'. Everything is clean and smells fresh, which has not been the case for a few weeks. That's when he realizes just how many candles are around them. Jesse thinks that's probably a fire hazard, especially in this specific apartment, but he can't bring himself to ruin the mood Chazz is trying to set.
"What's all this?" Jesse asks.
"We technically got together a year ago, so I thought we should celebrate," Chazz explains. "Why do you sound so surprised?"
Jesse is a little surprised, considering the past several weeks have been Chazz getting progressively insufferable, and not just as a roommate. However, he isn't going to spoil a very sweet and genuine attempt to be more like the Chazz that Jesse had gotten used to pre-moving in together.
"I just wasn't expectin' it,'' Jesse says, going over to inspect the food. "I am delighted. You're sweeter than cherry pie, y'know?"
Chazz snorts and goes to sit back down.
They spend the rest of the evening eating and chatting, and unfortunately ends with a game of footsie under the table being interrupted by the fire alarm blaring through the apartment.
Jesse immediately starts blowing out candles, and Chazz investigates the rest of the unit.
"It's not us," he says, heading for the door.
They go out into the hall and the sound isn't coming from the neighboring units, but they hear it from the stairs, so they head down to investigate. On the floor below theirs, they find the door to the D unit beneath them open and the fire alarm going off. There's no sign of the tenant, so they head down to the next floor and see someone sitting outside the closed door of 11D. The alarm can be heard from inside.
"Where's the fire?" Jesse asks, but the person on the floor just glances up at him briefly before looking back down at the phone in their hands.
Chazz marches ahead with Jesse following close behind. Every floor they pass has the alarm coming for the D units and seemingly nowhere else. As they pass 6D, the tennant comes out of his apartment, looking unfazed until he sees the two of them. He grins and joins them on the way down to the fifth floor. Jesse slows, letting Chazz storm ahead.
"Hey, neighbor. What's going on?" Jesse asks, and the man smiles and shrugs.
"This happens every now and then. 2D likes to set off our alarms. The lady in there says Eugene gets like that when he thinks the others are getting too rowdy. He's just trying to help."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Chazz's voice carries up from the fifth floor landing.
"Excuse him," Jesse says. "But… what are you talking about?"
"Oh, have you not met whatever's haunting your place yet? All the units are real active. What floor are you on?"
"14," Jesse says, ignoring Chazz saying not to tell the man.
"Oh, shoot. That's unfortunate," the man says. "No one's been in there for a while. Might've been you two Eugene was trying to alert."
"Wouldn't it be easier if he just came up and knocked?" Jesse asks.
"Ghosts only have so many ways they can get in contact, I guess. We all figure Eugene's death was fire related, since he seems to be the only one that can interact with the alarm system, but that's just a theory, since no one's spoken to him."
The alarms stop, leaving the three of them standing on the 5th floor landing in a silent stairwell. Chazz is irritated by the whole situation. The man speaks about the place being haunted so casually, but he is even more frustrated to see the mostly bemused expression on Jesse's otherwise friendly face.
"How do you know his name is Eugene, then?" Jesse asks. Chazz can't believe that's what he's chosen to focus on.
"Why did you say 'unfortunate' when he said what floor we're on?" Chazz asks before the man can answer.
"Uh…" he leans in and whispers, "We don't talk about her. Sorry, that's all I know about the place, except that people don't stay there very long."
The man straightens up and smiles kindly at Jesse. "We all just name our hauntings whatever we want to, to be honest. There's too many spirits around here to know for sure who's who and who they might have been before. Not all of them introduce themselves, either. I should get back to my dinner, though. It was nice meeting you."
With that, the man waves and heads downstairs, rather than up where he had come from. Jesse tilts his head and waves back. Chazz grumbles and throws up his hands dramatically.
"This is ridiculous," he says, and storms back up the stairs.
Jesse frowns and lingers for a moment. So much for the rest of their romantic evening, he thinks, staring at the closed door to 5D. There are dying plants and a cracked motorcycle helmet sitting outside the door, and several pamphlets shoved in between the door and its frame. Obviously the person who lives there hasn't been home in a while, which Jesse thinks is probably where the rest of this lease is headed for Chazz. After a moment, he sighs and heads back upstairs as well.
The rest of the week does nothing to ease the building tension. Starting with the following morning, Jesse finds Chazz missing and is unable to get ahold of him. It isn't until he gets downstairs that he finds him sitting quietly on one of the chairs in the lobby.
"Why are you down here?" Jesse asks, sitting down next to him.
Chazz doesn't respond at first, so Jesse waves his hand in front of his face, wondering if he was somehow asleep despite sitting up with his eyes open. Chazz slaps his hand out of his face, but when he turns to look at Jesse, he smiles sleepily.
"Oh, hey," Chazz says, before looking around as if just realizing where he is.
"Hey, Chazz," Jesse says, smiling back. "What are you doing down here?"
"I needed a walk," Chazz says, hesitantly. "It was getting stuffy up there."
Jesse nods. He's not quite sure what Chazz means, since Jesse's woken up to the windows open every night, but it's hardly his place to disagree with what Chazz is feeling.
"Makes sense. We should probably head up though, you don't want to be late," Jesse says.
"Late for what?" Chazz asks, frowning.
"For work. It's almost eight in the morning."
"It's Monday." Chazz looks and sounds irritated, and Jesse can't help but feel it's directed at him.
"It's Wednesday," Jesse tells him.
Chazz looks surprised and pulls out his phone to double check. He has an extremely busy and important day, and here he is just sitting in his pajamas in the lobby fifteen minutes after he should have already left.
"Damnit," Chazz grumbles and jumps up, hurrying off, leaving Jesse behind.
The next night is a date night they had planned after the interruption on New Years. Jesse gets done with his day and goes to the cafe they planned to meet at. He waits nearly two hours for Chazz, with every attempt to reach him going straight to voicemail.
Jesse tries not to worry too much, since Chazz's phone has been off a lot recently, and he's been pretty forgetful in general. So he heads home, and finds Chazz sitting on the couch writing into a notebook.
"This place looks awful," Chazz says, not looking up from what he's doing.
Jesse raises an eyebrow, not entirely sure what he's getting at. He decides not to respond, shutting the door and putting his things down instead, waiting for Chazz to elaborate. After a whole minute, Jesse gives in.
"It is pretty messy, I s'pose," he says, looking around at the unfinished dishes and clutter strewn about the few surfaces in the apartment. "I thought you were gonna clean up before meeting me at the cafe."
"I didn't realize I was here to serve you," Chazz says.
"What's that mean? It's your turn," Jesse says, taken aback and annoyed. "And we had plans, Chazz."
Chazz looks over at Jesse at this, then smiles as if suddenly happy to see him.
"You're home already?" he asks. "I thought we were meeting at the cafe when you were off."
Jesse stares at him for a moment, unsure of what's happening or what to say.
"I waited for two hours," Jesse says, moving cautiously into the living room. Chazz frowns at this and checks the time on his phone.
"Oh," Chazz says. "I must have lost track of time."
Chazz stands up, closing his notebook and carrying it with him. As he passes Jesse, he gives him a quick kiss on the cheek. Jesse almost moves away, but doesn't, a little too surprised to make a decision.
"Let me get ready real quick," Chazz says as he walks into the bedroom. "Sorry I'm not done cleaning up, I got distracted. I'll finish once we get back."
Jesse watches silently as Chazz heads to the door and gets his shoes on, as if everything about this conversation is normal.
"I don't want to go back out," Jesse tells him, frustrated. "I was already sitting there for two hours . And you were bein' pretty ugly with me when I got here."
Chazz frowns and starts taking off his shoes.
"What are you talking about? I was just surprised to see you. I told you I didn't realize what time it was."
Jesse stares at him for a moment, trying to figure out what to say. He isn't sure what Chazz is doing, and it seems impossible not to start an argument, so Jesse just sighs and shrugs.
"Nevermind," Jesse says. "Let's just reschedule, I've had a day and am plumb tuckered out."
Chazz frowns as Jesse heads into the room and shuts the door behind him. Confused, and a little frustrated, he decides to just clean up before going to bed early himself.
In the morning, Jesse heads out for a walk around the block. He takes out his phone and calls up Syrus.
"Uh, hey," Syrus answers. Jesse never talks to Syrus, so his obvious discomfort isn't surprising.
"Howdy, sorry to bother, but I-" Jesse pauses, trying to figure out what to say next. He takes a seat on a bench at a bus stop he's passing. "I was hopin' to get some, well, insight I suppose."
"Insight on what?"
"Chazz."
"Uhm, okay, what's up?"
Jesse sighs. He isn't really sure how to put into words Chazz's behavior. It's not what Jesse had come to think was normal for him, and he didn't want to sound like he was calling Chazz's friend to gossip or complain.
"Jesse?" Syrus asks, and Jesse realizes he was quiet just a little too long.
"Sorry, I-"
"Is Chazz being an asshole?" Syrus asks, startling Jesse a little.
"Oh, uhm, I don't know that I'd put it like that, exactly…"
"That's a yes, then?"
"He's just been different since the move," Jesse says. "We got along real well before, now everything turns into… not necessarily an argument, but-"
"So you've finally met the real Chazz," Syrus says, a little too flippantly for Jesse's liking.
"I don't know what you mean," Jesse says. "He's always been a bit of a grouch, and was definitely prickly when we first started spending time together. But now he's… well, it goes back and forth. Real hot and cold without any warning."
"Sounds like Chazz," Syrus says with a sigh.
"Aren't you friends?" Jesse asks.
"Sure. Doesn't mean I think he's nice, or even boyfriend material," Syrus says, sounding a little more sympathetic than he had a moment before. "Listen, from everything I've heard, he's a pretty terrible roommate. And I've known him pretty well for a long time, he's never been particularly nice."
Jesse doesn't think Syrus was the right person to talk to about this, but he isn't sure if that's just because he doesn't like what he's being told.
"I appreciate you talkin' to me," Jesse says. "I'll let you go."
Syrus says goodbye and hangs up without hesitation, and Jesse is left sitting silently at the bus stop trying to figure out how much weight he should put on Syrus' opinion. He finds himself wishing he had Jaden to talk to. Not only is Jesse sure that Jaden is the best person to tell him what's going on with Chazz, he's really missing his best friend, especially right now.
The following evening there's a loud knock on the door while Jesse is making dinner. He was pretty sure he heard the door knob jiggle before the knock, but the locks Chazz had installed last week would prevent anyone from coming in unannounced. It had been working; the door hadn't been left opened without reason. Jesse had hoped Chazz would relax after that. He didn't.
Jesse glances over at Chazz, who's quietly reading on the couch, ignoring the loud knocking.
"Are you gonna get that?" Jesse asks, his hands full and the pan of vegetables in front of him sizzling and demanding his attention.
"You wanted the apartment, you get it," Chazz says without looking up from his book.
Jesse tenses up, trying his best not to get angry. He calmly turns the stove off and moves the fry pan to the back burner. When he opens the door he's greeted by the smiling face of an older gentleman. His hat has several decorative feathers sticking out of it, and he's wearing a colorful paisley patterned scarf over his bright three piece suit.
"Uh, howdy," Jesse says, as the man reaches out to enthusiastically shake his hand.
"Hello there, neighbor! I am glad I get to meet you this time," the man says, scooting past Jesse and into the apartment. "Excuse me, but the only way to my apartment is through your deck. Oh, it smells fantastic in here, I will hurry out of your way, I do not want to interrupt your dinnertime."
"Wait," Chazz says, standing up as Jesse follows the man across the living room. "Who the hell are you?"
"What do you mean this time?" Jesse asks, when the man stops just before the door to the deck. "Where exactly is it you live?"
"You may call me Mr. Velasco," the man says, reaching to shake Chazz's hand. Chazz steps back, glaring at Mr. Velasco. This doesn't faze the man though, and he turns back to Jesse and continues. "I live in 15D, but ever since they boarded up the floor, the only way into my apartment has been your fire escape. It was a lot easier before you boys moved in, and definitely before you acquired that fancy new lock. It has given us the opportunity to meet, which is a delight!"
Chazz is obviously livid, and Jesse doesn't blame him. However, he's far too curious about this information and the upper floor to complain.
"That sure is unfortunate, Mr. Velasco. We'd been wondering who was living up there, but figured it was just some critters when we saw there was no way up," Jesse says, ignoring Chazz's glare turning on him.
There's a sudden chill and the man reaches out and shakes Jesse's hand one more time.
"I have been here too long! Visit anytime you like," he says, then heads outside as if he couldn't get out of there sooner.
Jesse lifts his hand as if to wave, then glances at Chazz. His arms are crossed and he's glaring at Jesse, tapping his foot.
"Why would you let some random person in?"
"That's not quite how it happened," Jesse says, raising his hands defensively.
"You should've kicked him out! Some squatter has been breaking into our apartment, and you're all smiles and polite conversation. Now he'll really think he can just come through whenever."
"Well, then you answer the door next time," Jesse snaps, his patience for Chazz is reaching its limit. Chazz just huffs and goes back to his seat and picks back up his book.
"We'll have to get a new lock for the back door," he mumbles, mostly to himself. Jesse frowns and decides he's not in the mood to work through Chazz's inability to regulate his emotions right now. He goes to the door and slips on his shoes.
"Where are you going?" Chazz asks, lowering his book again. "I thought you were making dinner?"
"I'm not so hungry at the moment," Jesse says, heading across the apartment to the back door. "Think I'll take Mr. Velasco up on his invitation instead."
Chazz just stares at Jesse as he walks out onto the porch and lets the door close loudly behind him. He isn't sure why he got so worked up with Jesse, he was definitely only frustrated with the strange man wandering through their home. That's when he realizes Jesse just went up to an abandoned floor with what might actually have been some sort of ghost. He hurries to get his own shoes on.
Jesse has to jump from the railing around his porch to get to the old fire escape ladder. It shakes and he wonders how long it's been since this was actually a fire escape, especially since it doesn't seem to be connected in any useful way to the apartment itself. He climbs up to the next porch, reaching out and pulling himself over the side more carefully this time.
Inside the apartment is worn down and the space is lit only by the light coming from outside. Jesse searches the entire apartment, but doesn't find Mr. Velasco, just piles of clothes and a sleeping bag with some pillows on it. He peeks out into the hallway, but it's too dark to see anything, let alone find his way around, and unfortunately he left his phone back in the kitchen. Sighing, he decides to give up and heads back down to the apartment.
The smell is the first thing Jesse notices when he opens the door back into the apartment. He hurries into the smoky kitchen, where the food he was cooking is sizzling and burning on the stove. Each of the burners are turned up completely, all of the appliances are running, and the front door is open. Jesse turns everything off and shuts the door.
"Chazz?" he calls out, wandering through the empty apartment. Anything that can be turned on is, so he shuts off lights and faucets, growing more and more confused as he does. Jesse grabs his phone and tries to call Chazz, but his phone buzzes from the coffee table. Worried, he heads out into the hall and looks around before heading for the stairs. Just as he starts down the first step, Chazz comes up the stairs towards him.
"Chazz, where were you?" Jesse asks, but Chazz just walks past him. "Are you alright?"
Chazz turns to glare at him, but before Jesse can react, his expression softens into something more tired.
"I'm fine," he says, sounding agitated. "I'm going to bed."
Jesse tilts his head and watches as Chazz walks back into the apartment, leaving the door open behind him as he goes straight for their bedroom. Jesse decides to explore the rest of the building, starting with all the D units. He closes the door to their apartment and heads downstairs.
No one answers until he reaches 9D. The woman that opens the door gives Jesse a stern look. She's wearing a dirty apron and cleaning gloves.
"Can I help you?" she asks. Jesse smiles politely.
"Sorry to bother you, ma'am," he says. "I'm just trying to learn more about this building. Especially the D units."
The woman sighs, then steps out into the hall and closes the door behind her.
"You just moved in?"
"A couple months ago, yes."
"The whole building has a bit of a ghost problem, I hear. But for sure every unit above the laundry room is haunted. I know everyone, so I'm guessing you're in 14D?"
Jesse nods and the woman gives him a pitying smile.
"That sucks. People usually move out of there by now, if they haven't died."
"Excuse me? People die there often?"
"Yeah, it hasn't been rented out for a few years because of that. But we got a new owner and he didn't believe any of us about the haunting."
Jesse frowns and rubs the back of his neck nervously.
"Why does anyone stick around? It sounds like you've been here a while."
"Most of the ghosts are pretty benign, honestly. Whatever's in my apartment is pretty quiet except in the winter," she gestures at her dirty apron. "It just starts messing with my plumbing. But by the end of January everything works fine again. This place sucks, but it's the most affordable place around and the rent hasn't gone up since I moved in. So I just deal with it. 14D is… something else entirely, I think."
Jesse's shoulders slump and he rubs his face, disappointed and confused by this information. The worst has mostly been inconvenience, as far as he can tell. He is starting to feel guilty for trying to be positive about this place, and thinks that they probably should have just waited until they could look for something they knew was a fit. Though, considering Chazz's increasingly intolerable attitude since moving in, Jesse wonders if he should've given it more time before fully committing to moving in together. The woman takes off one of her gloves and pats him gently on the shoulder.
"I'm sure you'll figure something out. Sorry to be the bearer of all that bad news, kid," she says with a sympathetic smile. "I'm gonna get back to it. Good luck."
"Thank you," Jesse says, giving her a little wave before turning back to the stairs. He decides to take a walk outside, not ready to get back to his haunted apartment and moody boyfriend.
Chazz wakes up to the sound of techno music. It's almost midnight and he isn't sure when he fell asleep, but he feels exhausted and very confused by Jesse's absence. Getting up, he stomps loudly as he walks out into the living room, trying to signal to the downstairs neighbor that their music is too loud. Jesse's not out there either. The music gets louder and he can feel the floor vibrating beneath his feet.
Chazz storms out of the apartment and down the stairs. He bangs loudly on the door until a young man opens the door, with an exasperated expression.
"Sorry, man," he says before Chazz gets a word out. "Usually he's better about keeping it down, I think he's in a bad mood tonight."
"What- are you trying to blame a ghost for this?"
The man lifted his hands up defensively. "Look, I'm tired too. I'll see what I can do, but we might just have to wait it out. Sorry."
He closes the door just as Chazz is about to argue. Clenching his fists, Chazz angrily kicks the door then turns to go down to the lobby. Or to sleep in his car. Just a few doors down is the little girl from the mailroom, staring at him.
"What are you looking at?" Chazz snaps. "Isn't it past your bedtime?"
"Isn't it past yours?"
She slowly backs into the apartment she's in front of, not taking her eyes off him until she closes the door. Chazz hates this place, and he's irritated that Jesse seems to have not returned from his visit to the creep hiding out on the condemned floor.
Going back up to the apartment, Chazz goes out on the deck and looks around for the fire escape, but he can't find anything even resembling one. He looks up and there's not even a deck above theirs. There's only the roof not far above, as if there wasn't a fifteenth floor at all. Out of the corner of his eye, Chazz notices movement inside the apartment, so he goes back in.
Jesse heads down to the fifth floor and walks up to the door. He figures he'll continue asking around on his way outside. Just as he's about to knock, a loud shriek comes from inside, startling him. Someone exits their apartment just a few doors down, as they lock their door, the shrieking continues.
"That happens sometimes," they say, walking past Jesse to the staircase. "Don't bother, though. That guy is rarely home. Whatever's in there shrieks when the tenant is away. Last person that lived there told me it's got separation anxiety."
They give Jesse a small wave before heading down the stairs. Jesse isn't sure if he finds this place charming or not. He certainly doesn't care for what people keep saying about his apartment, but he does think some of the people here are pretty nice, and their ghosts all seem decent, as far as ghosts go.
Jesse continues downstairs, not having much luck with the rest of the D unit residents. Most don't answer, though he supposes it's getting pretty late. The ones that do answer don't tell him anything new.
After a walk around the block, Jesse's worn himself out and is ready to go to bed. He gets back to the apartment and when he turns the light on, he finds Chazz sitting on the couch.
"Chazz? Why are you sitting in the dark?"
Chazz doesn't answer, so Jesse walks over and taps him on the shoulder, which causes him to jump and glare at Jesse.
"What do you want?"
Jesse frowns, taking a breath before responding.
"Is there something bothering you?"
"Currently? Just you," Chazz says, looking away again.
"The feelin's mutual," Jesse says. "But that's just because of how you've been acting. I'm not too sure what I've been doing that's got you so annoyed with me, though."
Chazz doesn't respond, just leans back against the couch and shuts his eyes. Jesse stares at him for a moment before speaking again.
"I think we should've waited longer to move in together."
"I think," Chazz says, folding his arms across his chest, "We're stuck together for the next few months, but that doesn't mean we have to spend it having these pointless conversations."
Jesse is too stunned to reply. He isn't entirely sure what is going on, but he's too tired to deal with whatever mood has led Chazz to imply they were breaking up. He decides just to go to bed and find out if talking about this was still pointless in the morning.
"Hey," Chazz says just as Jesse is about to go into the bedroom. "Turn the light back off."
"Do it yourself," Jesse says, closing the door just a little too loudly behind him. He locks it from the inside, and lays down in his clothes. It takes him two hours to fall asleep, and he definitely doesn't sleep well once he does.