DYSFUNCTIONAL • [ D. BOSTICK ]

|10.| the laundry jar

"I'm so tired." Devon instantly - and loudly - states as he walks through the front door. Nora heard his whining all the way in their room, which was in the back of the apartment.

Devon walks back, really wanting the bed tonight. "I'm tired." He claims again as he in their room now. Nora looks up from the book her new coworker, Ezra, gave to her. They got along really well while restocking the frozen section, she genuinely liked his presence plus they had a shit ton in common.

Ezra was also an avid reader and for some reason really wanted to give her the book he happened to have in his car, claiming it was both beautiful and brilliant. So far, Nora couldn't disagree.

"I'm sorry giving people popcorn and the occasional soda takes such a toll on you?" Nora states sarcastically. She knew that look he was giving her, she wasn't having it. She was getting the bed since her first week at work was extremely long and tiring, meanwhile Devon worked part time.

She went back to reading her book, trying her best to at best get halfway through before she had to get to sleep if she didn't want to look zombified in the morning.

"Where's everyone?" Devon asked, kicking his shoes off and placing them on his side of the closet. He instantly took his shirt off afterwards, not caring that Nora was right behind him. Plus, he wanted to catch her staring.

"Clay, I don't know anymore, Kenzie is at my grandmas as usual, and my Mom is working overnight. She's also going out of town Friday to visit my great aunt." Nora adds, letting him know. She didn't look up from her book not once, she was too invested to know Devon was even shirtless. Hell, she probably wouldn't even know if he was completely nude. She had hardly caught his question.

"How come you're not going?" Devon asked, genuinely curious. Nora didn't have the ability to concentrate on being sarcastic at the moment, Devon should know better than to bother talking to her while she's reading but he wanted to know.

"Her side of the family are homophobes who disowned me when I brought a girl home and said she wasn't just a friend?" She said as more of a question, finally looking up.

She saw his shirtless stature finally, and she didn't stare too long. She knew she wouldn't hear the end of it but it was still tempting. He was attractive, he wasn't the same adorable nerd he was when they first met anymore. He wasn't a dork who jokingly hit on girls and failed miserably, he was a guy who fucked a girl senseless in a bathroom stall after knowing her for two days, maybe.

He changed slightly and was continuing to do so, and Nora noticed.

"Oh." He mutters. He saw Nora glace down at his stomach again and smirked when she looked away. He walked to the other side of the room and dug through his drawers, looking for something to sleep in.

Although, he was Devon, and noticed the huge pile of clothes he had in his laundry hamper and lack of clothing in his dresser. "Can I have some quarters?" He asked and Nora sighed.

"I really don't know why you always ask even though you're aware of the fact that everyone contributes to the quarter jar, including yourself, and it belongs it everyone." Nora says. Nora was usually the one who made sure there was always some, even if it meant going to the bank and buying a few rolls. Nonetheless, it was meant for laundry. Their apartment complex didn't have a change a machine, and by the time one of them remembered to get quarters, they were home and didn't want to leave again.

And thus the laundry jar was born.

"You could've just said yes." Devon says and she closed her book after marking her placement. It was late, she knew it wouldn't be just one more chapter since she told herself that four chapters ago.

"You're doing laundry this late?" Nora asked, looking at the clock that rested on their bedside table. "Yeah, I'll just stay over there until it's done, they have a TV in there anyways." Devon knew people had a tendency to go in and take things from the dryers.

It was a 'yeah, totally' situation at first, they didn't believe people actually went in and took stuff from the laundry room but some of Nora's clothes were stolen on several occasions. She was mostly agitated, she liked her sweatpants and graphic tees. It was a simple luxury, she didn't like the fact that someone literally took that from her.

"Alone? For at least, what, almost two hours?" She asked. "You can wait until tomorrow. Plus, weren't you just complaining about how tired you were?"

"Yes, but I also need to do laundry while I'm willing to." Devon says, motioning towards the overflowing basket. "Just do it tomorrow, Devon. It'll keep you busy." Nora says, scooting towards the wall and facing it. She moved her head on her pillow slightly, trying to get as comfortable as possible.

"Fine." Devon sighs. Nora noticed the room get dark and heard the door close. She figured Devon gave up on the bed tonight.

She was excited to have it all to herself, at least until she felt it dip next to her.

"I'm not wearing pants." Nora announced and she wasn't, there was a reason she was laying under the covers and not wanted to move to the couch. "Yeah and I'm only wearing underwear." He resorts, not caring about her lack of clothing.

Nora could tell by the quiet familiar rustling sounds that he plugged his phone in to charge. She heard the soft thump it made when he finally set it down on the nightstand.

She kept feeling him move around, clearly not being comfortable. Nora turned towards him, resting on her elbow. He still moved and fidgeted, mostly to piss her off. She kept her glare on his face, regardless of the huge grin on his.

"I swear to god, Devon, if you don't stop mov-" She starts when he, once again, twists his body.

"Are you-" She gets cut off when Devon put his hand on her neck and brought her face down to his.

His lips were pressed against hers, moving slowly, so slight and soft. Nora hardly registered it, her eyes were still wide open. Before she could even really react, he pulled away.

"Shut up." He whispered, then turning his back to her. He was still shirtless due to the fact he literally had no clean clothes and sleeping with jeans on would be uncomfortable in the morning, to say the least. He opted for just staying in bare essentials.

Nora, was utterly confused. She didn't know why the hell he shut her up with a kiss. She couldn't even focus on the fact that she wanted more, she just wanted to know why he did it.

-

note: ok but like, is their ship name dora?

they're like so domestic I love it alright and they needed to kiss. don't expect much else quite yet though, I know, I'm satan.

(The last two chapters were supposed to be combined but I randomly switched povs where this chapter started and didn't feel like changing it. so, here we go. plus I think it's better like this??? idk why I explained all that)

LIGHTLY EDITED