Chapter Text
Christine was awoken to the sudden, harsh beeping of her iPhone's alarm clock at 6:00 a.m. on a Tuesday. She tumbled over and grabbed the phone, adding another 5 minutes. She put the pillow over her head as she heard movement in the kitchen through the paper-thin walls that were in her small, one-bedroom apartment. It was a little over two weeks since she agreed to let Felix live in her apartment with her, after bumping into him, and realizing that he had nowhere to stay since they escaped the circus a week prior to that. Yesterday was her first day of training at an accounting office job that was an hour away to drive. Thankfully, her car was still intact when she returned, so she had no problem commuting. It was just hard finding a job when you have a big gap in your resume from being "missing" for a substantial amount of time.
"Fuck...", she mumbled, as she could not stand to wonder what Felix was doing in the kitchen at 6 in the morning. Yesterday, when she left for work, he was still out cold on the couch. It was panicking her a little bit as she heard shuffling.
Finally, she dreadfully crawled out of bed, with a feeling of sudden anger. She was not used to interruptions since coming back from the circus, and she was enjoying that. She wondered why the hell he was up at this hour. However, she did not want him to know how pissed she was over such a small thing. She was never a morning person. Last night, she and Felix had stayed up even later so she could talk about the shit-show that was her first day back at work. Surprisingly, he was a good listener for someone who had such a different demeanor in the circus. She has been enjoying getting to know this new version of "Jax", which was the name she knew him by in the circus.
As she put her slippers on and walked out to the kitchen, she now saw Felix brewing a cup of coffee, but it was in her mug. Instead of thinking maybe he was going to do something nice for her, she instead remarked,
"What the fuck are you doing with MY cup at six in the morning?" Christine snipped, then she immediately followed up with "Shit, that sounded mean. I'm sorry.." she said as she awkwardly brushed her fingers through her unbrushed hair, her eyes barely open.
"Chris..." Felix said, chuckling lightly. "You are so funny," he remarked, looking down at her.
Christine looked up at him, honestly not knowing what to say. Before she got this job, there was never really a gap in which Christine was not up before Felix. She liked to have a quiet morning with no interruptions after the circus. But, she was starting to think that Felix may be able to convince her to break this new boundary she had made since returning.
"I am making you coffee, and I have a surprise for you. I know yesterday was pretty shitty for you, so I thought I would get up early and make you coffee and give you some company. Plus, I couldn't sleep after listening to you sob all night." He smirked, signaling her that he was joking about the last part.
"I cried for maybe fifteen minutes, asshole.. plus I hate mornings. Should have told you that," she said, grabbing the cup of coffee out of Felix's hands. She reached for the fridge door but Felix butted in and told her not to open the fridge.
"It's just how you like it." Felix confidently said as Christine laughed at him.
"Ok, sure. If this is poisoned, at least I know you fooled me with having good intentions." She took a sip, and it had exactly the right amount of cream and sugar in it. She was surprised, although it wasn't hard to make her coffee. She always puts brown sugar in instead of white sugar, which makes it taste slightly different. Felix had taken notice to this last evening when she had a cup of coffee late at night to prepare her to dump her day on him.
"Why are you being so nice? I didn't know that you paid attention to me at all." Christine said as she looked up at Felix.
"For now, that's still none of your business," Felix said jokingly. "Anyway, brown sugar in coffee, Christine? Do you think you work at Starbucks with your thrifted Keurig?" He elbowed her gently, lightening the mood. Christine now felt that Felix was acting more like himself, and maybe genuinely was just feeling like doing a nice gesture for her.
"Shut the fuck up.." Christine said back, feeling her cheeks getting warm as he seemed to be analyzing how she looked in that moment. She had messy hair and no pants or bra. She was so pissed that she couldn't get her extra five minutes of sleep that she forgot to get dressed before going out to see what Felix was doing.
"Go put some clothes on, Chris. Get ready for work." Felix told her in a calming voice. She felt very awkward and embarrassed as she walked back into her room. She grabbed the nice business casual outfit she had laid out the night prior and got ready for work.
She walked out to the living room, where Felix was lying on the couch, looking like he was about to sleep.
"Thanks for the surprise," Christine said genuinely. "Sorry, I was a bitch about it."
"Thanks for the show," Felix said, smirking. "You're so fucking funny, and I thought I would never say this, but kind of sexy when you are sleep deprived and half dressed." Christine felt her cheeks warming up as she glanced at the clock. She still had 45 minutes until she technically had to leave for work. She was leaving early since she felt unsettled, as if something was going on between her and Felix.
"Sexy, huh?" Christine laughed at him as she tightened her belt and tucked her shirt in.
"Even in that office outfit." Felix bravely said, with immediate regret. "Sorry. I am breaking the rules a little bit here." Soon after, he stood up from the couch to tower over Christine. "Come here, Chrissy, give your good ol' roomie a hug?"
"I am letting you live here for free... but you have been helpful. Fuck Felix. You make it so hard after all of the shit we have been through."
"I know all of that, believe me. I am done hiding at night on the couch. I wanted so badly to just barge in last night and help you stop crying. Chris, it's been so fucking hard because I know right now you do not want this, or need this. I just-" Felix said, being cut off by Christine reaching up behind his neck, standing on the tip of her toes, pulling his head down and pulling Felix in for a kiss. At first, it was just a peck, but then Felix leaned in for more. The two started to make out, suddenly ending up on the couch with Felix in a mounting position over her. A few seconds of being in the position, and Felix immediately got off, looking mortified.
"I went too far, didn't I?" he said. "Sometimes roommates just kiss, right?"
Christine stood up, chuckling at him. "Not usually. But I have to get to work. This was.... nice...?" she said, afraid of what was actually going on. Maybe they were both just deprived of feeling human touch and romance and finding in each other in the meantime.
Christine left for work, awkwardly saying goodbye to Felix. She worked from 7 am-3 pm. At 3 pm, Felix sent her a text.
"Didn't want to distract you during the day. But here is how I feel about this morning. It was amazing. I want to keep having mornings like that. I want to comfort you when you're sad. We're humans again. We do not have unlimited time here. Anyway, have a safe drive home, and I hope you won't be packing my shit for me when you come home."
Christine's cheeks were flushed again, feeling her heart beating out of her chest.
This was now her time to take a chance with Felix, without her having to start the relationship. She feared that if she initiated it, he would regret it. But, this is his idea, right? Christine had no idea what would go on once she returned to her apartment.