Thalia leans back against the kitchen counter, fingers tapping the screen while she browses for accessories online - something Juniper refers to as her 'online shopping addiction.'
She doesn't bother to tilt her head up when the sound of the guest room door opening reaches her ears.
Sensing the presence of Finn standing there, awaiting her greeting, she sighs and looks at him with a feigned smile. "Have fun last night?"
His face turns a shade of red as he begins avoiding eye contact. "Oh... uh, how did you-"
"The door was locked." Thalia shrugs, putting her phone down on the island counter.
Finn clears his throat, and Thalia can feel his discomfort as he wastes no time to switch the topic.
"Anyways, these next 4 days I'm solely dedicating myself to doing crazy shit with you."
The realisation strikes her at his words. Finns leaving in four days. Her eyes drop down. "You better."
"Number 1 on the crazy shit list," he begins with a smile, "have you ever tried special brownies?"
She raises an eyebrow. "Special?"
He nods, waiting for a moment before she catches on.
"No, but I would like to."
"Great. I've got the special ingredient covered. The guy whose place I crashed at before running into you let me borrow some."
"That's a good friend." She chuckles. "I don't have any ingredients to make brownies though."
"No worries, I'll go grocery shopping." He smiles, running a hand through his hair before rushing out of sight.
Just as Thalia reaches for her phone again, someone she had desperately hoped to avoid making conversation with comes into view.
"Hey! Morning." The dark-haired girl beams, receiving nothing but a nod of acknowledgment from Thalia.
Camille settles onto a bar stool in the kitchen with her eyes fixed on Thalia, who is engrossed in her phone screen.
Thalia absentmindedly taps numbers into the calculator app, doing anything to avoid small talk.
"Hey, uh..."
With an almost audible sigh, Thalia lifts her head up and feigns a smile. "Hm?"
"Did he... say anything about me? I'm sorry for gushing over your friend, he's just so amazing-"
"He went out. We're making brownies later." She cuts off Camilles blabbering, avoiding her question in the process.
"Brownies?" She grins. "That sounds nice."
"They're not regular brownies."
Thalia bites her tongue, wondering why she just revealed that to a stranger.
"Oh! Isn't that... illegal?" Camille nervously chuckles, her eyes crinkling up.
An irritated look spreads across Thalias face. "What are you? A cop?"
She lifts her hands in defence. "My bad."
With an eye roll and a scoff, Thalia feigns another small smile. "It's fine."
The kitchen falls into a deafening silence, the distant murmur of construction work bearing the only escape.
"Well, I'm gonna stop bothering you now. Enjoy your brownies." Camille smiles, rising up from the stool.
