Swearin' this will be the last, but it probably won't

 

"Don't be so hard on him now," Jared said. Randy was a good kid. 

"Oh, that means so much to me coming from you," Justin gave his older brother a sour look. "You probably told him they should go off to that place to begin with.

"Well, maybe, I don't remember now," Jared winced nervously. Still, he thought Justin was making a big deal out of nothing. It sounded like he was grounding Randy now, but he knew that wouldn't last long. Justin changed his mind a lot and hated to see Randy sitting around doing nothing. "You know what." It finally came to Jared.

"What?" Justin winced back as he went to get a washcloth to clean the coffee table. He was still in his slippers and flannel pants with his sweater on. He also kept the apartment cold in the winter and hot in the summer.

"You're a micromanager." Jared's eyes lit as if he understood his brother completely now.

"A micromanager?" Justin gave him a testy look. "Whatever. A lot of good it does me. You will always do as you please."

This left Jared peeved. He hugged himself and stomped back to his room. Immediately, he called Nori.

"I think I want to live with you," he said out of the blue as he bounced back on his bed.

"Oh, really." Possibly not the answer he was hoping for.

"Don't you like the idea?" 

"Yes and no." She told him she didn't know him well enough. She was quiet then. 

"What are you doing?" He hoped she didn't hang up. But he guessed he would know. Wouldn't he?

"Putting on my clothes."

"Oh." He hoped he didn't sound too excited.

"Eventually, we could move in together," Nori told him.

"Eventually?"

"Let's get through the holidays."

"The holidays?" Jared sat up with a smile.

"And spring."

"Spring, too?" Jared didn't like the sound of that.

"Look, it's best to wait until the newness wears off."

"How about weekends?" He wanted at least weekends. He could be away from Justin.

"Maybe, but not right away." She still wanted to date.