roommates

twenty-five

EPILOGUE

It had been almost a year. Quinn grumbled at the tinsel she was hanging on Clay's tree. The blonde had gotten distracted and buried himself away, no doubt, he was working.

"Hey asshole, come decorate your tree!" Quinn called through the house. She looked at the time on her watch, Clay's family would be here soon, and she still had to get ready.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Clay appeared in the living room soon after that, carrying a purring Patches, "Are you sure that Tiki is gonna be alright by herself tonight? You can always go pick her up and she can stay here too."

"She'll be fine," Quinn assured him, handing Clay the box of ornaments that his mom sent over. It was a new thing that these were Clay's ornaments, and they had to go on his tree. "And besides, I'm pretty sure she would rather stay home unbothered."

Clay smirked at this, "okay, fine, at least I offered. You go get ready and I'll finish this, but be quick, everyone's gonna be here soon, and I have something for you before they get here."

Quinn rolled her eyes dramatically. She sauntered into Clay's bedroom where the dress she had picked out for tonight was hung in his closet. It was red and long sleeved and silky, Quinn loved it. And apparently, so did Clay. Quinn smiled at the red tie that was sitting on his nightstand.

As Quinn was getting ready, Clay knocked on the door.

"Come in," Quinn announced, doing her makeup, she hadn't gotten dressed yet, but her hair and almost her makeup were done, "did you finish the tree?"

Clay nodded and stretched before laying on his bed, scrolling through social media. As Quinn finished her makeup she retrieved the dress from the hanger before beginning to change into it. This got Clay's attention, and he looked up from his phone.

"You're staring," Quinn poked fun.

"I am fully aware that I'm staring," Clay was a cheeky little shit all the time, so this was normal for him, "My girlfriend is absolutely stunning, I have the right to stare."

He was also incredibly sweet. His comment made Quinn blush. She dressed quickly, remembering the time constraint. She then urged Clay to change so that they could take a picture together before the rest of his family showed up.

Quinn made her way to the kitchen where she played Christmas music from Alexa and lit a candle. This was truly her favorite time of year. She took a moment to look at some of the photos that Clay had framed around the house, them at Vidcon, the whole gang at Disney, him and Tommy at the airport, him and Quinn cuddling together at his parents house. It had been a whole year of memories and Quinn wouldn't trade it for the world.

"Quinn? Baby? Where'd you go?" Clay was looking for her.

"I'm in the hall, by the guest room," She responded walking out into the living room, past Nick's old room. Clay was holding something. It was a box, but not a ring box, so Quinn didn't panic longer than a moment. It was wrapped, and there was a shitty bow tied on top, so Quinn knew that Clay had done it himself.

"C'mere," Clay motioned her over, extending his hands and offering her the box.

Once Quinn was holding the gift she could feel that it was light. Quinn wondered if he was pranking her, and there was nothing in the box at all. Or maybe they would be taking another trip.

"What is it?" Quinn asked stupidly.

"Open it dingus,"  Clay shook his head.

Slowly, Quinn unwrapped the bow and opened the box, pausing for a moment when she saw what was inside.

"It's a key?" She asked, it was very obviously a key.

"Well, yeah," Clay had to admit that his delivery wasn't the best.

"But I have your spare key, why do I need another one?" Quinn wasn't sure where he was trying to go with this gift, but it hit her rather suddenly, "this is my key."

"It is." Clay smiled at her, "your old key, that is."

Quinn looked between him and the key, unsure of what to say.

"You don't have to agree to anything right now, but I know your lease on the apartment is up soon, and I was wondering... Well, if you'd want to move back here," Clay felt like he was tripping over his words and falling flat on his face.

"Move back?" Quinn considered it for a moment, "like to live together? You and me?"

"You and me," Clay smiled and it was infectious, "just you and me."

"Just you and me," Quinn tested the words on her tongue. Then it was silent for a moment, and in this moment, Quinn thought about what it would be like, living here with Clay. For real.

"So..." He was getting antsy.

"Yes."

"Yes?" Clay was pretty sure that his heart stopped, "You'll move in?"

Quinn nodded, a huge grin breaking out on her face. In an instant Clay picked her up and spun her around. Finally, finally, they were gonna live together.

At dinner that night, Clay told his family the good news, and Quinn made a comment about finally convincing Clay to move into the master bedroom. In the New Year, they would start the rest of their lives together.

After celebrating, Quinn took a moment to herself to call Ellie.

"Did he do it?" This was Ellie's first question.

"Be specific," Quinn didn't know if Ellie knew something else...

"Did he give you the key?" Ellie was grinning ear to ear and it was obvious in her tone.

"He did!" Quinn smiled. The girls cheered.

"Oh finally, he asked me if it was a good idea weeks ago and he's been waiting for the right moment," Ellie was sitting on the couch in her and Nick's apartment, waiting for him to come back from the store, "have you talked to him about moving rooms?"

"Oh of course," Quinn laughed a little. The girls chatted like this for a while, until it was much later than either of them cared to admit.

"Are you almost ready for bed?" Clay approached Quinn who was sitting on the kitchen counter. He got close enough to rest his head on her shoulder. Quinn hummed at him and said her goodbyes to Ellie.

"Wait, don't go anywhere yet, I wanna stay like this," Quinn pulled the blonde back, adjusting her to slide comfortably against him.

"Soon, we'll be able to do this all the time," Clay mumbled, smiling to himself.

Quinn sighed contentedly at the thought.  Eventually the pair moved to the bedroom, ready to drop dead from all the excitement of the day.

"Do you want to paint?" Clay said half awake, Quinn curled up against him.

"Right now? No, I want to sleep," Quinn humored him.

"No idiot," Clay mumbled again, "the house. Do you want to paint our house?"

Our. It was a comfort to Quinn that he had already grown comfortable with the idea of them living together.

"Maybe, or just decorate it a little bit." Quinn thought about all of this as she fell asleep.

And Quinn was happy.

AN: IM GONNA EDIT EVERYTHING I SWEAR. IK THIS IS A AHITTY EPILOGUE IM GONNA FIX IT. BUT HERE HAVE THIS FOR NOW.