Lisa and Aiden arrive

The next morning, Natalie stood by the window with a cooling cup of coffee in her hand, watching as a silver sedan eased into the lot below. She hadn’t slept much, a mixture of anxiety and a restless awareness that the quiet comfort of her home was about to change.

After spending the day preparing, she spotted Lisa as soon as the car parked. Her friend stepped out with a quick glance upward, giving a wave even though she couldn’t possibly see Natalie through the tinted glass and the reflection of the world outside. She knew Natalie well enough to know that she’d be watching for them though. A moment later, Aiden emerged from the passenger side, taller than she remembered and more filled out. He moved with the loose, casual energy of someone comfortable in his own skin, slinging a duffel bag over his shoulder and grabbing a suitcase from the back seat.

Natalie’s stomach gave a small, involuntary twist.

That wasn’t the awkward teen she remembered from holidays and backyard barbecues. That was… something else entirely. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected, maybe someone younger-looking, more boyish, but the man stepping onto the curb looked completely at ease with himself in a way that made her suddenly feel off-balance, knowing he was about to move in.

She turned from the window and set her mug down, brushing her hands over her jeans as if that would settle her nerves. It was time to open the door, make polite conversation, and act like she hadn’t spent the last twenty-four hours trying to convince herself this was a perfectly normal arrangement.

Before stepping into the hall, she took one last look around the guest room, smoothed the edge of the comforter where she’d been sitting, then moved to the kitchen to pour herself some water she didn’t really want, and await the coming knock at the door.

Time seemed to drag before she finally heard them talking outside. She glanced at the clock: ten after four. Showtime.

Natalie opened the door just as Lisa lifted her hand to knock.

“There she is,” Lisa said with a grin, stepping in for a big squeeze. “Told you we’d make it before dinner time.”

Natalie returned the hug, then looked past her to Aiden. He lingered a step back, shoulders relaxed, duffel slung over one side.

Stepping aside to let them in, she said, “Well, come on in. Don’t just stand there, come on.”

He stepped through the doorway behind his mom with a polite nod and a quick glance around. Now that he was in front of her, Natalie couldn’t help comparing him once more to the version she’d seen a few years ago. He’d been all sharp elbows and shaggy hair, slouched in a hoodie two sizes too big. Now, his posture was straighter, and he carried himself better, like he’d settled into himself. Still quiet so far, however.

Natalie shut the door behind them and gestured toward the hallway. “Your room is the first on the right. Closet is cleared out and extra towels are on the bed.”

“Thanks,” Aiden said, offering a brief smile before heading down the hall with his duffel over one shoulder and his suitcase trailing behind him. His footsteps were light, almost cautious.

Lisa followed her into the kitchen like it was still familiar territory, opening a cabinet uninvited and grabbing two glasses. “You’re not going to freak out and kick him out after a week, are you?”

Natalie raised an eyebrow. “Not unless he starts blasting music at 2 a.m. or leaves beard trimmings in the sink.”

Lisa smirked. “He’s not a slob. And he keeps to himself. Honestly, like I’d said, you’ll probably forget he’s here most of the time.”

Natalie leaned against the counter, arms crossed loosely. “I doubt that. It already feels different.”

“Good different or bad different?”

She considered the question for a moment. “Just… not mine anymore. The space, my routine… it’s going to take a minute.”

Lisa nodded, surprisingly understanding. “I get it. You’ve been solo for what, a year now?”

“Little over. In the apartment for almost a year.”

“Well, he’s not going to take over your world,” Lisa said, grabbing her glass of water and giving Natalie a pointed look. “He just needs a place to sleep, study, and occasionally eat all your cereal.”

Natalie huffed a soft laugh. “I don’t even eat cereal.”

“Then you’re already that much safer from his never-ending hunger.”

Before Natalie could respond, Aiden reemerged from the hallway. He’d dropped his stuff off and was now taking in the apartment with more focus as his eyes scanned the layout, the framed prints on the walls, the neat stack of books on the bookshelf in the corner of the living room.

“It looks really nice in here,” he said.

Natalie gave a modest shrug. “It’s still coming together.”

“I like it,” he added.

Natalie gave a small smile, motioning her hands towards him slightly. “Thanks. It’s a work in progress.”

Lisa looked between them, then clapped her hands together. “All right, troops. He’s still got a few boxes in the trunk. Let’s get it all in before the afternoon heat turns ugly.”

Natalie set her water glass on the counter. “To late for that,” she quipped. “Lead the way.”

They filed out together, to head downstairs. Lisa chatted like always, and Aiden brought up the rear, quietly scanning the hallway as they walked. The apartment was nicer than he was used to since going to college. Cleaner. More put together. Not like the dorms, where peace and quiet was rare because your neighbors either slammed doors or played guitar badly at midnight.

This place had structure. It felt like someone actually lived here, and not in the half-hearted way college students pretended to, knowing they would be leaving in the summer. It made him feel out of place. He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to fit into her world.

As they stepped outside, the afternoon heat rolled in fast. Lisa popped the trunk of her car and motioned toward the back.

“There’s your last two,” she said. “One of you grab the box, the other grab the bin.”

“I got it,” Aiden said quickly, reaching for both before Natalie could move.

“Don’t throw your back out trying to impress me,” she said.

“I won’t,” he muttered, adjusting his grip on the awkward plastic bin. It wasn’t heavy, just bulky but manageable.

Lisa opened the building door for them, and he followed Natalie in, trying not to focus too much on the scrape of her sandals on the floor or the fact that he was eyelevel with her ass, as they walked up the stairs.

This whole thing still felt strange. He’d spent the last two years crammed into shared spaces with guys who barely knew how to run a microwave, and now here he was, living with his mom’s friend off campus, a woman he barely even knew anything about. He didn’t even know how old she actually was.

Thirty... something? She didn’t look it, but she acted like it. He was used to living with people he didn’t know. That comes with dorm life. But he didn’t know how to live with a woman, not a girl, but a woman, that wasn’t his mom. This was new. All of it. And he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to act around her.

It was already a different world, and he hadn’t even unpacked yet.

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