#oceanfrontbobby

“Hey, buddy, have you been ignoring us?” 

Colin was standing in the doorframe of Bobby’s room. He hadn’t seen Bobby much over the last few days, so when he finally made an appearance, Colin had taken the opportunity to corner him. Literally.

She’d left the door unlocked (would anyone expect anything less? Bobby kept trying to tell her that she’d be a very easy target for someone to rob, but she just laughed and told him that she’d be more likely just to lock herself out rather than let anyone in) and she heard her brother come in. 

“Hey, kiddo! I’ll be in in a second.” She was busy in the kitchen, trying to whip up some pasta in this European cookbook she had picked up at one of the secondhand bookstores. It had a lot of delicious looking recipes that didn’t seem too complicated. Of course, all the measurements were in the metric system, but converting them couldn’t be too difficult? She wasn’t exactly a genius when it came to math, but she was sure that she could wing a simple four step recipe. 

She went into the living room and gave her brother a hug and then stepped back. “How’s your week been?” She asked, “Mine’s been -- “ she rolled her eyes, “Well, you know, typical and -- “ The timer in the kitchen went off. “Oh! That’s the sauce. Hang a second.” 

It’d been over two years and weren’t the three of them supposed to have become unlikely friends by now? if they were on a tv show, they’d be friends by now. But Bobby was still as withdrawn as he had been on the day that he had moved in.

Sooner or later, he thought, they would be. 

He shuffled into the kitchen one sunday morning in his robe and slippers, wiping the sleep from his eyes. Bobby was already up and dressed and making some coffee. 

“Hey, you still looking for a job, .... man?” Adding the man sounded cool, he thought, but not like he was trying. Dude might have been better, now that he thought about it, but either way he had paused too much. Dammit. “They just put a sign out that they are hiring down at the comic store.” Too bad it was full time only, otherwise Colin would be quitting his job at the minigolf in a heartbeat. “I hear there’s a nice employee discount.” 

He didn’t want to sound like he was trying to pressure him into finding a job, either. Colin knew he was looking and that was enough: it was hard out there. Plus, Nick would be forgiving if their rent came up short (hell, Colin and Chase might even be able to cover Bobby’s portion this month between the two of them).