chapter 3: marius's new home

~marius~

       I stare at the instructions before looking at all the pieces needed to make my new bed. I try to find the matching pieces, but a lot of them look so similar to me. Why do they have to make this thing so complicated?

       I groan before I drop the instructions, lying down on the floor. I should have hired someone to build the bed and all my other furniture for me, but I didn't think it was going to be so difficult. It's just reading instructions. How hard could it be?

       At the very least, I do have my new mattress in the house as well so if I can't build the bed by tonight, I can just set the mattress on the floor and sleep on it. The only reason why I wouldn't want to do that was because I would just end up procrastinating building everything.

       I take a few minutes for a break, contemplating my sudden decision to move to this town. It did feel good to get away from my parents and brother after the way they treated me, but because of how fast I didn't, I didn't have time to properly prepare for it.

       The only thing I prepared for was blocking my family so they won't get in contact with me. Some people may think it's childish of me and I shouldn't completely cut them out of my life, but they drained me so much. I worked my ass off for them and never got appreciated.

       This might not even be a permanent thing. Maybe later on, I'll get in contact with them and tell them how I'm doing but as of right now, I want to focus on myself. Whatever that may be, because I don't even know what I want to do right now.

       I decide I took a long enough break, so I sit up and take a deep breath before getting back to work on building my bed. It doesn't last long. I try to follow the instructions, but it's just not working for me. 

       My stomach growls, telling me that it's time to take yet another break despite not getting anything down. I doubt I would be able to do any better if I just continued to starve.

       I stand up from the ground and stretch before I leave the bedroom. I don't have much food here yet. Just a few snacks and drinks, but nothing that would fill me enough. I grab my wallet and leave my house, locking the door behind me.

       Since I'm still new to the town, I don't know many places to eat. I have to walk around for a bit before coming across a sandwich shop. That's good enough for me.

       I walk into the shop, seeing that Fawn is actually working at the counter. No one is in line, so I walk up to him. "Do you work everywhere or something?" I ask.

       "Pretty much, yeah," Fawn says. "So how's it like living in your new home?"

       I sigh. "Don't get me started."

       Fawn raises an eyebrow. "What? Is it not up to your standards?"

       "Uh, no? I like it. I just haven't been able to build any of my furniture. It's too difficult."

       "Awe, does the little rich boy not know how to read instructions?"

       I glare at Fawn. "Don't call me that. And I do know how to read instructions. It's not my fault they just made it too complicated for building a simple bed."

       "Right."

       "Are you going to judge me or are you going to take my order?"

       "Well, I'd prefer to judge you, but I'd rather not get fired, so what would you like?"

       Fawn annoys me. It's that simple. Sure, he has been helpful to me before when he took a look at my car, but he seems to like teasing me as well. Like 'little rich boy'? He's just judging me now for no reason.

       I tell Fawn my order and after receiving it, I decide to eat the sandwich here in the shop. I feel like if I took it home, I would just severely judge myself for not being able to build a bed. It shouldn't even be hard, but it is.

       Once I eat my sandwich, I head to leave the shop, but Fawn decides to be a pest and say, "Have fun building your furniture," probably just to annoy me.

       I turn to look at him, seeing an amused smile on his face. "Oh, like you can do any better."

       Fawn rests his arms on the counter and leans over. "And what makes you think I can't?"

       "It's not so much me thinking you can't, but me hoping you can't, just to wipe that smile off that face."

       Fawn shrugs. "Even if I can't, it's your furniture, not mine. You're the one that's going to have to figure out how to get it assembled soon."

       "I'd rather not," I mutter.

       Fawn stares at me for a bit. "What exactly needs to be assembled?"

      "My bed, nightstand, dresser, coffee table, and dining table set."

       Fawn looks at the clock on the wall. "Alright, my shift ends in about half an hour. I can probably get most of it done today. The bedroom and coffee table, most likely. The dining set will have to be done another day."

       "Seriously?" 

       "Well, you're going to have to pay me. I'm not giving you free labour."

       "Done. Deal. However much, I'll pay you."

       "Awe, and here I thought that you were hoping I wouldn't know how to assemble furniture."

       I hesitate. "You do know how to do it, don't you?"

       "Yes, I do. Don't question my credentials. I wouldn't offer to assemble your furniture if I didn't actually know how."

       Despite Fawn knowing where I live since he's the one that showed me the house, I decide to wait for him to finish his shift so we can head to my house together. I wasn't out here for long and I wanted to continue staying out of my house so I don't have a mental breakdown for not being able to put the furniture together.

       Once we get to my house, I lead him to my bedroom where everything is for the furniture that's going to be there. "I see you already organized the parts," Fawn says. "That will make things a lot easier."

       "So... Should I help or...?"

       "If you want to learn how to put things together, you can. If not, no big deal. I won't judge you. I'm getting paid either way."

       I know I'm going to end up getting more furniture for the house, like a desk and some bookshelves, so it will probably be beneficial for me to help out Fawn, or at the very least watch how he does it so I'll be able to do it on my own. Eventually. Hopefully.

       Fawn gets me to help out mainly by holding things together, but it's better than just sitting here and watching him do it.

       It actually doesn't take long for the bed to be assembled, which was what we got started on first. Everything else isn't as long, so the whole bedroom set is completed just over two hours. 

       Fawn even helps me get the mattress on the bed before putting my new bedding on there. "Well, would you look at that?" Fawn says once the bed is completely made. He looks around the room. "I do know how to assemble furniture."

       "You do," I say. "Thank you, for you help."

       "It's what I do."

__________________

fawn will help people do anything. you need a body hidden? fawn knows where to hide them? need someone to disappear? fawn can make that happen. want a day off of school? whoa, suddenly the school burnt down on the weekend. what a shame.

love that man.