Room With No Windows

Elsa spent most of the weekend trying to get in contact with her sister, saying that she could trust her to not tell her mother what really happened.
"Nicky won't answer my calls or texts," she sighs, plopping down at the island table Monday morning. "She must be swamped at work."
I place a coffee mug in front of her. "What does she do?"
"Journalist," she mutters. Her head shoots up. "Maybe I can try emailing her."
"You'd need a laptop for that," I say apologetically, though I was just yanking her chain.
She frowns. "Does your phone have internet?"
I chuckle. "'Fraid not. I live in a garage, Elsa." I shoot her a serious look. "I'm a poor guy."
"Bullshit. I saw your app for Instagram, you jerk. You need an internet connection for that."
"It's called free wifi. Again, get with the times."
Her eyes narrow. "You're a smartass, you know that?"
"And you're naive," I smirk, taking a sip of my coffee. She sticks her tongue out at me, something she does often now. It's only been four days, but we've gotten comfortable enough with each other to joke around freely. Having her around was surprisingly fun; it definitely kept me entertained.
I roll my eyes. "You can use my laptop."
Elsa grins. "I knew it. Thanks, John." She rises from the stool and finishes her coffee. "I'm going to take a shower."
"Do you want to borrow some clothes?" I ask her for the thousandth times since she started staying here. She took a shower every morning, but she was using the same clothes and I figured she might want something fresh.
She bites her lip. "Actually, I was going to ask you if we could stop by the store later. I need a few things, clothes being one of them. And I don't have anything against smelling like Old Spice, but I'm used to using Dove and I could use a toothbrush."
I laugh when she refers to my deodorant that she's been using. "Sure. I'll look for a shirt for ya, but I don't think we're the same size in jeans." Actually, she probably could fit into my jeans if It weren't for her having nice hips and me having...well, a crotch.
Elsa smiles sweetly with gratitude. "That would be great. I'll be out in a bit!"
I chuckle as she scurries off, pouring myself some more coffee. I start thinking if I have any older shirts that she might fit into. My thoughts begin to wander onto more inappropriate things, like how she would look in ONLY one of my shirts. I stop myself before I could think any further and start looking for something that wouldn't be revealing.

We leave half an hour later, deciding to walk since it was such a nice day out. I found a grey sweatshirt that was mine in high school, so it fit her almost perfectly.
I ask her if she wanted to get any groceries before shopping for clothes. But she was more concerned about buying some Q-tips and lotion.
"Are you sure you wanna buy all this?" I ask as she throws a pack of soap and some shampoo into the shopping cart. "These don't really seem like necessary essentials..."
She scoffs. "Well they're essential to me. My skin feels so dry." She gives a fake pout before resuming to scan the shelves. "Oh, yeah, conditioner."
I was about to advise her to not spend her money all in one place and reminding her she didn't have much, but then figured that if she's going to be living with me, she may as well buy whatever she needed to feel most at home.
It wasn't until she started shopping for clothes that I was a bit worried.
"Elsa, that's like five shirts already," I mutter.
"But they're so cute!" she whines, sounding like a child.
I shake my head. "If you buy a whole bunch of stuff now, you're not going to have anything left. Besides, you don't know how long you're staying, so you don't know if you'll need the money.
She stares at the shirt she's holding up and sighs. "You're right. I should put most of this stuff back." I watch her blush and duck her head, her light brown hair hiding her face. "I do need underwear, though."
I feel the corners of my mouth twitch, threatening a smile. She turns a deeper shade of red and I stand in front of her, meeting her eyes. "You go do that, and I'll put this stuff back. Okay?"
"Okay," she mumbles. "But keep the toothbrush and the shampoo and the lotion. I actually need that."
I chuckle. "What about the clothes?"
She bites her lip, looking at the items and holding up each one in turn. She hands me all the pants, minus one pair of shorts, and the rest of the shirts. "I can do without these."
"You really liked this one," I say, holding up the camisole and the cardigan that came with it. She stares at it in longing before sighing in defeat. "I don't need it."
I flash a smile. "I'll get the shirt."
Her eyes widen as I drop it into the cart. "What? You don't have to do that-"
"No worries," I tell her. "It's not a big deal."
Elsa looks at me considerately before wrapping her arms around my neck. I rest my hand on the small of her back, sinking my nose into her hair. She may have been using my shampoo before, but she had a scent all her own. I couldn't even imagine how intoxicated she'd smell when she started using her products.
She pulls away slowly, sighing. "You're an angel. I really can't thank you enough."
"Just hope that this shirt fits me," I joke, winking and making her giggle. I was growing extremely attached to that sound.

After finishing shopping for the day, I asked Elsa if she wanted anything to eat and tried telling me she wasn't hungry. We'd been out all day and skipped lunch, so I knew that was a lie because I was starving.
We picked up a couple of subs and ate them once we got back. I didn't bother eating it in the kitchen; eating it at the coffee table sitting on the floor was fine with me, just like always.
She sits down with me, propping up the bags against the leg of the table. "Hey, John?"
"Yeah," I mumble through my mouthful.
"I was thinking earlier...Even though I'm sort of living with you, I don't know a lot about you. I know things have sort of been focused on me and, well, haven't really gotten a chance to ask more about your life."
I stare at her, astounded. She wanted to know more about me? I didn't even think she was interested in knowing who I was at all.
I realize that she was waiting for me to respond, so I chew my food and swallow, clearing my throat. "Um. Well I have a mom and dad like most people. I have two younger brothers, Ross and Shane. I pretty much tour for a living, traveling here and there with my band."
"You're in a band?" She asks, tilting her head to the side as she takes the first bite of her sandwich.
I fling a slice of pickle into my mouth. "Yeah, with my four other buds. We've been going for about 7 years now, although most of us already knew each other for much longer."
She smiles. "Wow. That's pretty impressive. And what do you do? You look like you play the drums."
"Oh, no," I chuckle. "My instrument is my voice. But I do know how to play the drums a little. And I play guitar, but I'm not that great at it."
"So you sing?"
I nod. "And write. But that's more of a group process."
Elsa shifts and sits back on her heels. "Can I hear a song or two one day?" She juts her lower lip into a pout. "Please?"
"Whenever you'd like," I answer, smiling like an idiot. I don't know why I was so excited about her asking about me. I wasn't usually this animated when I told people what I do.
"Where have you been to? Do you just tour in the States?"
I grin proudly. "Actually, we've been to a couple places. The UK, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Australia, the Philippines. We have yet to visit Japan, though."
Her eyes nearly bulge out of her head as she slams her hands down on the table. "YOU'VE BEEN TO BRAZIL?!"
"YES!" I shout back, mimicking her incredulous expression. She scoffs. "Lucky! It's my dream to visit there. It's just so beautiful and the people there just seem so lively."
"You have every reason to think so," I tell her. "It's one of my favorites, actually. We have a lot of great fans whenever we get the opportunity to go."
"I'm jealous," she mutters, taking a bite into her sub. "I hate you."
I laugh. "Gee, thanks."
She giggles and continues to chew before moving into another sitting position, her legs crossed. "What else?"
"That's pretty much it," I sigh. "I'm not very interesting."
Elsa's eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "Really? No crazy background story, no traumatic events? No pets?"
"Nope."
"No girlfriends?"
I look up from my sub to meet her eyes, not quite sure how to respond to that. I've had about one real girlfriend my whole life, and it's not something I liked to talk about. She blushes as I continue to stare at her, completely silent, not saying a word.
"No current one," I answer, sinking my teeth into my food. I hoped that would avoid any further questions about that specific topic.
She stays quiet and we finish our meal. I wipe the crumbs on my pant leg. "Do you wanna try emailing your sister?"
I stand when she nods and walk over to my bed, reaching for the laptop under it. "What else do you keep under there?" I hear her ask.
"A gun," I tease, smirking. She rolls her eyes, sticking her tongue out yet again,
I could get used to having her around.