Dear Roommate Please Stop Being Hot [BL]-Chapter 263: Rules We Never Follow

Friday morning arrived slowly, sunlight creeping through the curtains in soft golden strips.

Luca woke to the smell of coffee and something cooking—familiar scents that meant Noel was already up and in the kitchen.

He stretched, checking his phone. 9:23 AM. Still early enough to feel like sleeping in, late enough to feel rested.

The apartment was warm, comfortable. The car was sprawled at the foot of the bed, occupying more space than should be physically possible for a cat his size.

"Traitor," Luca muttered, pushing himself up. "You didn’t wake me for breakfast."

Luca Jr. yawned, completely unbothered.

Luca shuffled out to the kitchen, still in his pajama pants and a t-shirt that had definitely belonged to Noel at some point.

Noel stood at the stove, hair slightly messy, wearing sweatpants and a long-sleeve shirt, completely focused on whatever he was cooking.

"Morning," Luca said, wrapping his arms around Noel from behind.

"Morning." Noel didn’t look away from the pan. "Coffee’s ready."

"What are you making?"

"Scrambled eggs. Toast. Some fruit."

"Fancy."

"It’s breakfast. Normal breakfast."

"Still fancy compared to my cereal-in-a-bowl approach."

Noel turned slightly, enough to look at him. "Your cereal-in-a-bowl approach lacks nutritional value."

"It has milk. That’s nutritional."

"Barely."

Luca pressed a kiss to his shoulder, then released him to pour coffee. "You’re very judgmental in the morning."

"I’m realistic in the morning."

"Same thing."

Noel plated the eggs, added toast, arranged fruit on the side with more care than was strictly necessary. He set both plates on their small dining table, and they sat down to eat.

"What do you want to do today?" Noel asked, taking a bite of toast.

"I don’t know. Nothing productive."

"That’s not an answer."

"Sure it is. It means we’re doing something fun and lazy."

"Those aren’t mutually exclusive."

"Today they are."

They ate slowly, no rush, the kind of breakfast that stretched into mid-morning just because it could.

After cleaning up_Noel washing, Luca drying, their established routine they migrated to the couch.

Luca Jr. immediately claimed the armrest, supervising.

They scrolled through streaming options for a while, nothing quite catching their interest, comfortable silence settling between them.

"We could watch a movie," Noel suggested.

"We could."

"But you don’t want to."

"Not really." Luca shifted, lying down with his head in Noel’s lap. "I have a better idea."

"Why does that sound ominous?"

"It’s not ominous. It’s fun."

"Those aren’t mutually exclusive either."

Luca grinned. "Let’s play a game. PC game. We can connect it to the TV."

Noel looked skeptical. "What kind of game?"

"I don’t know. Fighting game? Racing? Something competitive."

"I’m not good at games."

"That’s what makes it fun."

"For you, maybe."

"Come on." Luca sat up, already moving toward their setup. "Just a few rounds. And we’ll make it interesting."

"Interesting how?"

"Loser has to do whatever the winner dares them to do."

Noel’s expression became even more suspicious. "That’s a terrible idea."

"That’s a great idea." Luca was already connecting his laptop to the TV, pulling up a fighting game with colorful characters and relatively simple controls. "See? Easy. Even you can play this."

"Even I can?"

"You know what I mean."

Noel sighed but joined him on the floor in front of the TV, taking the second controller Luca offered.

"Okay," Luca explained, pulling up the character selection screen. "Pick someone. Anyone. They all have different moves but it’s pretty straightforward."

Noel scrolled through the options, selecting a character that looked vaguely competent—some kind of martial artist in blue.

Luca chose a character in red with an aggressive stance. "Ready?"

"No."

"Perfect. Let’s go."

The first round was predictably one-sided. Luca’s character moved with practiced precision, combos flowing naturally, while Noel’s character mostly just... stood there, occasionally throwing a punch that missed entirely.

"You have to block," Luca said, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"I am blocking."

"That’s not blocking, that’s standing still."

"It looks the same!"

"It’s really not...."

GAME OVER flashed on screen. Luca’s character stood victorious while Noel’s lay defeated.

"I won," Luca announced unnecessarily.

Noel set down his controller. "Shocking."

"You know what that means."

"Unfortunately."

Luca turned to face him fully, expression mischievous. "I dare you to kiss me."

Noel raised an eyebrow. "That’s your dare?"

"Slow. For five minutes. No breaks."

"Five minutes?"

"Yep. Starting..." Luca pulled out his phone, setting a timer. "Now."

"This is ridiculous," Noel said, but he was already moving closer.

"Just do it."

Noel cupped Luca’s face, leaning in. "Five minutes is going to lead to something else," he warned, voice low.

"Maybe that’s the plan."

"You’re impossible."

"Kiss me and find out."

Noel closed the distance, and the kiss started slow like Luca requested—soft, unhurried, more intimate than urgent.

Luca melted into it, hands finding Noel’s shirt, the timer on his phone forgotten somewhere beside them.

Five minutes was both too long and not long enough.

The kind of kiss that made everything else fade—the game, the TV still showing the victory screen, Luca Jr. watching them with feline judgment from the couch.

Somewhere in the background, the timer started ringing.

Neither of them stopped.

Noel’s hands slid into Luca’s hair, tilting his head slightly, deepening the kiss, and the five-minute dare became six, then seven, then who was counting anyway.

When they finally broke apart, both breathing harder, Luca’s lips were red and Noel’s were slightly swollen.

"That was more than five minutes," Noel observed, voice rough.

"Was it?"

"Definitely."

"Huh. Must have lost track."

"Must have." Noel’s thumb brushed across Luca’s bottom lip. "You planned that."

"Maybe."

"Definitely."

Luca grinned, pulling back enough to grab his controller again. "One more round?"

"Absolutely not."

"Come on. You might win this time."

"I definitely won’t."

"You don’t know that."

"I know exactly that." But Noel was picking up his controller anyway. "Fine. One more round. But this time when I lose, keep the dare reasonable."

"When you lose? Already so defeatist."

"I’m realistic."

"You keep using that word."

They started the second round, and this time Noel at least managed to land a few hits—mostly by accident, button-mashing producing occasional success.

But the result was the same.

Luca won, his character executing some elaborate finishing move that looked unnecessarily flashy.

"Ha!" Luca set down his controller, turning to Noel with a grin that promised trouble. "I win again."

"I’m shocked. Truly."

"Ready for your dare?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Nope." Luca’s grin widened. "I dare you to sing karaoke. And dance. For me."

Noel stared at him. "You’re not serious."

"Completely serious."

"Luca."

"Come on. It’ll be fun."

"For you, maybe."

"Exactly." Luca was already pulling up a karaoke app on his laptop. "What song? Pick something good."

"I’m not doing this."

"You have to. Those are the rules."

"I hate these rules."

"You agreed to them."

Noel groaned but stood up, accepting his fate. "Fine. But I’m choosing the song."

"Deal."

Noel scrolled through options, finally selecting something with a decent beat—not too fast, not too slow, the kind of pop song that was catchy without being embarrassing.

The music started, lyrics appearing on the TV screen.

"And dance," Luca reminded him, settling back on the couch to watch. "Sexy dance."

"I don’t know how to dance sexy."

"Just... move. Improvise."

"This is humiliating."

"This is entertainment."

Noel started singing—surprisingly on-key, though clearly self-conscious and attempted something resembling dancing.

It was awkward. Completely, endearingly awkward.

Movements that didn’t quite match the beat, an attempt at hip movement that looked more confused than sexy, hand gestures that seemed uncertain of their purpose.

Luca lasted maybe thirty seconds before he started laughing.

"Hey!" Noel protested, still singing. "You said sexy!"

"I know, but...." Luca couldn’t finish, laughing too hard.

"Fine. You do it then."

Luca stood up, joining him. "Like this."

He demonstrated some exaggerated moves equally ridiculous, completely unselfconscious and suddenly they were both doing it, singing together, dancing together, the whole thing dissolving into chaos and laughter.

They bounced around the living room, Luca Jr. fleeing to the bedroom to escape the madness, lyrics mostly forgotten in favor of just moving and being silly and enjoying how ridiculous they both looked.

By the time the song ended, they collapsed back onto the couch, breathless and still laughing.

"Okay," Noel said, chest heaving. "We’re done. No more games."

"One more round?" Luca asked hopefully.

"Absolutely not."

"But—"

"No. I’m retired from competitive gaming. Effective immediately."

"You’re no fun."

"I just danced sexy for you. I’m plenty fun."

"That wasn’t sexy, that was..." Luca searched for the word. "Enthusiastic?"

"Same thing."

"Really not."

They settled back into the couch, the apartment quiet again except for their gradually steadying breathing.

"That was fun though," Luca admitted.

"It was ridiculous."

"Same thing."

"Definitely not the same thing."

But Noel was smiling, relaxed in a way he only got when they were alone, when there was nothing to prove and no one to impress.

They spent the rest of Friday exactly like that—lazy, comfortable, doing nothing in particular.

Ordered takeout for dinner, watched half a movie before getting distracted talking instead, eventually ending up in bed early just because they could.

Saturday morning came gentle and clear, winter sunlight streaming through windows, the promise of a beautiful day evident in the quality of light.

"Let’s go out," Luca said over breakfast—cereal in a bowl, much to Noel’s disapproval.

"Where?"

"I don’t know. Park? Somewhere with fresh air. It’s nice out."

Noel looked out the window, considering. The sky was cloudless, bright blue, the kind of winter day that was cold but beautiful. "Okay."

They dressed warmly layers, scarves, proper winter coats and headed out mid-morning.

The city was still in its holiday mood, Christmas decorations still up, people walking with that relaxed weekend energy that came from not having anywhere particular to be.

They took the subway to the botanical garden—a sprawling green space on the edge of the city that stayed open year-round, winter gardens showcasing plants that thrived in cold.

The entrance was decorated with wreaths and lights, though less crowded than it would be in summer.

They paid admission and stepped inside, the air immediately different—clean, crisp, filled with the scent of pine and earth.

The paths wound through different sections—winter roses still blooming in protected beds, evergreen displays, a section of ornamental grasses catching the light beautifully.

"This is nice," Noel said, hands in his pockets, breath visible in the cold air.

"Yeah." Luca walked beside him, occasionally bumping their shoulders together. "Quiet."

They wandered without purpose, following paths that interested them, stopping to read plant information when something caught their attention.

Few other people were around—a couple walking their dog, an elderly man photographing frost patterns, a woman sitting on a bench sketching.

It felt peaceful. Separate from the city despite being in it.

They found a bench near a pond—partially frozen, ducks huddled together on the ice—and sat down.

"We should do this more," Luca said after a moment.

"Do what?"

"This. Just... exist. Together. No agenda."

"We do that all the time."

"At home, yeah. But out here." Luca gestured around. "In the world. It’s different."

Noel considered this. "Yeah. It is different."

"Good different."

"Good different," Noel agreed.

They sat there for a while, watching the ducks, the sunlight on the ice, other people passing by at a distance.

"Monday we go back to work," Luca said eventually.

"Don’t remind me."

"Just one more week of internship. Then finals. Then break again."

"Then next semester."

"Then graduation. Then real jobs. Then...."

"Luca."

"What?"

"You’re thinking too far ahead."

"I’m planning."

"You’re spiraling."

Luca smiled slightly. "Maybe."

Noel took his hand, both of them still wearing their matching rings, the silver catching the light. "One thing at a time. Right now, we’re here. That’s enough."

"You’re right."

"I usually am."

"Cocky."

"Confident."

"Same thing."

"Not even remotely the same thing."

They sat there until the cold became too much to ignore, then stood and continued walking.

The garden had a small greenhouse section—tropical plants thriving in controlled warmth, a stark contrast to the winter outside.

They stepped inside, and the temperature change was immediate, almost shocking.

Humidity clung to the air, the smell of earth and growing things overwhelming in the best way.

"It’s like summer in here," Luca said, already unzipping his coat.

"Mm."

They walked slowly through the greenhouse, reading plant labels, marveling at flowers that had no business blooming in December, touching leaves that felt impossibly soft.

Near the back, tucked between large palms, they found a small bench.

"Sit?" Luca suggested.

They sat, shoulders pressed together, surrounded by green and warmth and the quiet drip of irrigation systems.

"I like this," Noel said quietly. "Being here with you."

"Me too."

"Not doing anything important. Just... being."

"Yeah."

Noel turned, and his expression was soft, open in the way it only got in private moments. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For this weekend. For making my birthday special. For being you."

Luca leaned in, kissing him softly. "You’re welcome. But you make every day special, so we’re even."

"Sap."

"You love it."

"Unfortunately."

They stayed in the greenhouse for another twenty minutes, then made their way back out into the winter cold, retracing their steps through the garden toward the exit.

By the time they left, it was early afternoon, the sun already starting its descent toward the horizon.

They grabbed lunch at a small café nearby—soup and sandwiches, hot chocolate that warmed them from the inside out.

"Good day?" Noel asked as they walked home.

"Really good day," Luca confirmed. "Simple but good."

"Sometimes simple is better."

"You getting philosophical on me?"

"Maybe."

They walked the rest of the way in comfortable silence, the city preparing for evening around them.

Back at the apartment, Luca Jr. greeted them with his usual dramatic complaint about abandonment, despite having food, water, and every comfort a cat could want.

"We were only gone a few hours," Noel told him, scratching behind his ears.

Luca Jr. meowed louder, as if to say a few hours was still too long.

They settled in for the evening simple dinner, a movie they’d been meaning to watch, the comfortable routine of home.

In bed that night, wrapped around each other, Luca thought about the day—the park, the greenhouse, the simple pleasure of just existing together.

"Tomorrow’s our last day off," he said into the darkness.

"I know."

"Let’s not waste it."

"We won’t." Noel pressed a kiss to his forehead. "We never do."

And that was true.

Every moment together felt significant, even the quiet ones.

Especially the quiet ones.

Perfect.