ADAM ALWAYS SLEPT THROUGH MOST OF THE DAY. At least through the mornings, though he often had shifts during the afternoons, except on weekends. But, for the most part, he slept through the mornings to catch up on the sleep he missed out on due to his graveyard shifts he had every night, lasting from ten until closing at two in the morning. Work and bed, that was his life, and he was really not in the mood to open the door when frantic knocking broke him out of his blissful free trial death.

"Coming," he groaned, stumbling out of bed and lumbering towards the door, opening it and leaning against the doorframe, only to be shoved back into his apartment.

"I need to hide here," a voice said urgently, immediately ducking down behind his bed, leaving Adam sprawled out on the floor, dazed and half asleep.

Rigby Sergeant was, unfortunately, Adam's only friend and floor neighbor. The two had met when Rigby had accidentally locked himself out of his apartment in nothing but his underwear and Adam, new to his own apartment, let him stay until the locksmith arrived to let the man back in. They wound up spending nine hours together, because Adam forgot that the locksmith didn't know where he was staying, so the man just left his door unlocked for him until he got back.

A few years later and the two were still great friends, though Rigby had more friends than Adam did, which was fine, unless he counted the fact that he was a bit of a recluse as a result, since neither of them worked regular hours or jobs and rarely wanted to do anything fun.

His life was kind of extremely pathetic.

"What did you do?" he asked, finally realizing that he was still on his floor with his door open, toeing it closed with his left foot before using his arms to pull himself across his floor to find Rigby hiding.

"I think I slept with someone," he whispered, peering up above Adam's mattress towards the closed door, "It might be someone from work, and that's really what I'm afraid of."

Rigby worked with S.H.I.E.L.D. and the only reason Adam knew that was because of The Incident where the man explained that he worked in the New York headquarters and had no involvement at all in the saving of New York from aliens, but was now forced to do all the paperwork to try and help reparations. It was the most boring job at the most deadly institution, and it wasn't as funny or exciting as it should have been.

Adam was happy to be a store clerk, the most terrifying moment of his life had been chasing out a drunkard with a broom at one in the morning.

"Oh, is it that really cool, scary woman who works on the big, invisible jet thing?" he asked, because these were the kind of conversations a man his age had with a man who had just turned thirty-two.

"Maria?" Rigby asked, "No. I wish. But no, she kind of lives up on that thing and only drops by every two weeks or so, but she's started to talk to me more, so that's cool. In three years time, we're getting married, I guarantee it. But I think I slept with Nancy, and I really hope I didn't, because she isn't that big of a Beatles fan and hates my sister, and I don't need that."

Adam pursed his lips, nodding in understanding at the concerns his only friend had about some random woman Adam had never met before, but assumed he'd become acquainted to, given that these things always happened to him.

"Listen, you got any cereal here, I'm kinda hungry. Also, do you know how to tell if you've actually had sex, because my boxers were on, but my shirt wasn't, and I just grabbed my sweats along the way," Rigby said, standing as he made his way over to the kitchenette, rummaging through Adam's pantries, "Does your job give you discounts, by the way?"

Adam moved to lie back down on his bed, staring up at his ceiling. "I get a thirty percent off discount and you can have the rest, I'm gonna restock later tonight."

Rigby paused from where he was pouring cereal, setting down the box and moving to sit at the foot of the bed. He sat there for a moment, just staring, before poking Adam in the stomach, the older man groaning in pain.

"What's wrong?" Rigby asked, now lying down next to the man who was turned on his side, clutching his stomach in pain.

"It's way too early in the morning for you to be here and bothering me," Adam whined, shifting so his face was pressed into his pillow, "I'm also gonna die alone, but that's an everyday thing."

Rigby patted him on his back. "You're not gonna die alone. Once the landlord agrees to pets in this place, you'll get yourself a cat. Or a dog, but that means you'll have to go outside where the dating pool is, and we all know you can't do that."

"I hate you," Adam growled, grabbing his pillow and hitting his only friend over the head, Rigby laughing loudly, shouting when he fell off the bed and onto the ground.

Before either of them could say anything else, there was a sharp knock on the door.

Adam held his breath, his heart nearly jumping out his throat, glancing to Rigby who shook his head, pressing a finger to his lips. Adam nodded, moving to settle back onto his bed, only for another, harsher knock to sent him jumping, his head hitting the wall painfully.

There was a pause. "I know you're in there, open up."

Adam sighed, giving Rigby a pointed look, the man pleading with him as he moved to hide under the bed, looking utterly terrified. Holding his breath, he made his way to the door, groaning as he opened it carefully, leaning against the door frame, slumped over.

"Can I help you?" he asked, raising his head to find an brunette in only slightly rumpled clothes, looking at him with crossed arms.

"Yes, I was asking around to see if you knew where the resident of E27 went? I asked his neighbor and they told me he can often be found going in and out of your residence," the woman said, and Adam felt himself being hit by a wave of respect so great that it was manifesting in blind fear.

"Yeah, he comes by sometimes, but we don't see each other in the mornings, he's got work and I usually sleep in 'til past noon," he said, hating how high he had made his voice and how he couldn't even make eye contact, scratching at his cheek.

"Are you sure he isn't here, because I work with him and neither of us have work today, is it possible he just came in here?" she asked, starting to step inside, but Adam blocked her way, surprised by his own actions.

"I'm pretty sure, I would've noticed, and, sorry to be rude, but I'm not really willing to let strangers into my home, for safety purposes, you know? So, I hope you find him, 'cause he's a really good pal of mine, but you won't find him here. If I see him, I'll let you know you stopped by," he said, giving her a pleading look as he forced himself to look her in the eye, and she nodded, taking a step back.

"Okay," she said, nodding and rolling her shoulders, taking a breath, "Well, if you see him, tell him I—"

"Okay, you got it, thank you, have a nice day, bye!" he called, closing the door on her, immediately sliding the deadbolt and locking the door handle.

"Why does this always happen to me?" he croaked, resting his forehead against the door, shaking his head, listening to Rigby shuffling out from underneath the bed, sighing and dusting himself off.

"Thank you," Rigby said, completely serious, and Adam turned to him, seeing the younger man looking at him sadly, "I, uh, I know I'm pretty awful sometimes."

"Shut up," Adam scoffed, holding out his arms for the taller man, hugging him, "Don't be dramatic, I'm always here for you."

"Yeah," Rigby sighed, shaking his head, "You're the only one that is anymore. You and my sister, but let's not count her, she believes in friendly aliens."

"They're real, I will not side with you!" Adam cried, pulling away to point at him, and Rigby laughed, going back to his forgotten cereal, "Listen to me, Sergeant, not all aliens are terrible, evidence is coming, trust me. You'll see."

"Yeah," Rigby scoffed, taking a bite of his cereal, the milk carton left open, "And my sister's gonna be abducted by 'em. I'm just gonna hide out here until this whole thing blows over, is that okay?"

Adam nodded, looking over at the other man. As much as Rigby was a bit of a nuisance, he was all Adam had. He had family, sure, but they hadn't been his family for a very long time, which left him but nothing but a too tall brunette with a bad haircut and sometimes his twin sister if she dropped by.

So, yeah, his life was kind of pathetic, but it could have been worse. That was what he told himself, at least, as he watched Rigby pour cereal right into his mouth, followed by milk right out of the carton, spilling it everywhere.

Such was life, it seemed.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

( 08.07.18 )

Meet Adam! This was a pretty rough chapter to write 'cause I didn't know how to start off, but it'll get more exciting in Chapter Three, maybe Chapter Two, but I can guarantee three. So sorry it's such a slow start, but it'll pick up.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!