You walked through the door of your apartment, closing it behind you. Setting the groceries down on the counter, you looked around at your apartment, at all the stuff in it that wasn’t yours. You and Octavia were good friends, and she often came to your place after her parents fought or something similar. Then she started leaving things behind. It started off simple enough, stuffed animals and books she bought with her. You just figured she’d forget them.

But then, she started leaving stuff she normally wouldn’t have. Cloths, pajamas, personal belongings. She left her loofa and shampoo in the shower, she even left one of those plasma orbs on the guest room, which was pretty much just her room at this point. The curtains were always closed, the shelves were lined with her books, the drawers held her clothes, and a stash of her favorite snacks and a phone charger were in the nightstand.

On top of that, instead of staying one night, she began staying multiple days in a row, sometimes weeks. One time she even stayed a month. Additionally, she started to come over more frequently. Instead of it only being when her parents fought, it was when she felt overwhelmed, depressed, in need of a shoulder to cry on.

And it didn’t bother you. You bought groceries with her in mind, made her bed, washed her clothes, bought her new ones, and got her books and videogames.

You suddenly heard a knock at the front door while you were putting away the groceries. A knowing smile crossed your face, and you already had a pretty good idea of who it was. You opened door, and sure enough, there was Octavia. Her hand was clutching her arm. She had her signature black beanie and a black shirt with a skull in the middle of a pentagram. She had dark pink and black striped sleeve gloves and thigh socks and a long skirt. “Hey….umm…..can I stay..?” She asked, her gaze on the ground.