Lynne

Chapter 25

"Goooooood Mooooooorning!" The front door slammed open, and I don't think I've ever been so happy to see Gumi barge into our apartment uninvited.

And then, out of nowhere, I smiled. What are you thinking? Nothing has changed. Gumi's appearance reminded me of that. "Hungry?" I asked her.

"I only come up here for food, now," she admitted, passing Len without so much as a second glance and jumped up the step to me. "What'd you make?"

"French toast." I shot Len a reassuring, and slightly sneaky, smile, before turning back to my cooking.

"Dude. I don't know how I didn't starve before you came here."

Len took my hint, and relaxed. "Me, neither," he agreed, taking a seat next to her.

It took everything in my power not to flash him a dirty look at his stupid joke. Gumi's ignorance towards the situation she had just interrupted had made me feel much more at ease.

"What'd you come to tell us today?" I asked, keeping my back to them to hide my sly grin.

"Nothing today. Just felt like popping in."

"Has it ever occurred to you to knock?" Len inquired. Of course he would worry about that now. If Gumi had walked in last night...

I grinned again, trying to clear my head of all these thoughts. The blush covering my face was showing no sign of receding, and I couldn't stand here with my back to them all day.

"No shopping or anything?"

"We're all way too exhausted for any of that stuff. Besides," Gumi slammed her hands on the table. "We decided that Rinny's little game last night was enough excitement for all of us." She laughed.

I looked over my shoulder at them, shrugging at Gumi, and, when she closed her eyes in laughter, casting another sly glance at Len. This is actually kind of fun.

"Here," I turned, finally confident enough to show my face. "Take 'em." I set the plate down in front of her.

"...Have I ever told you how much I love you?" Gumi beamed, ripping the silverware out of my hands and digging into the plate.

I set Len's down next to him as well. "Wouldn't want you to starve."

"Oh," he chuckled. "I won't."

With another grin, I turned around to clean up.

"What about you?" Gumi asked, syrup spilling out of her full mouth.

"Finish eating!" I laughed. "Gross."

"You didn't make any for yourself?" Len asked. Even he ate like a pig, but, next to Gumi, he had the manners of a prince.

"I'm not too hungry."

"Don't ever tell anyone you feed me," Gumi said, swallowing. "Or else everyone else will be hounding your apartment for breakfast, too."

"Oh, great." I rolled my eyes. "Eight people barging in instead of one. That'd be awful."

"I know! So don't tell them." She resumed her eating. My snide remark had completely flown over her head.

With all of the dishes in the sink, I leaned over the counter, looking out the window. The three of us fell into a comfortable silence. Well, silence beside Gumi's ravenously consuming her meal.

"It feels weird having nothing to do," Len said.

"I know," Gumi replied. "But it's nice."

"Do we know when our next show is?" I asked.