Disclaimer: I don't own 6teen

Summary: The story of the gang all moving into their apartment. One at a time. Into a three-room apartment.

...

Sighing happily, Jen set the final box down. Wiping sweat from her brow, she cracked her back with her free hand. She flopping onto the couch, using a nearby box as a foot rest as she took a five minute break.

She squealed. Her first house! No parents, no parties, and, best of all, no siblings!

Well... maybe she was being a little harsh. Jonesy had quieted down a bit after Nikki had started traveling, and had taken to sleeping over with the guys or spending long hours talking on the phone with his girlfriend in place of his usual pranking. Pranks had shifted away from her to Emma Jr, who, in spite of her young age, was proving to be quite the amazing prankster (Poor boys) and Courtney had moved in with a friend of hers. The house had become surprisingly peaceful for her the past year or so. She'd only moved out to get her own space and live her own life.

She sighed. Things just hadn't been the same since they'd tried going there own ways. They'd always been together, sleeping over at each others houses (in the same bed. In a pile. It wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, but it was one of her favorite memories), telling each other intimate secrets, the usual between close friends. They'd been that way through the adolescent and teen years, and were well on there way to being like that into adulthood, becoming even more tightly knit and sharing all there secrets with the newest member, until finally there parents staged an intervention. Taken them all aside and told them that they had to split up, just the tiniest bit. They had to live there own lives, away from the others, they'd said, being so close and into each others business and doing it so... publically wasn't socially acceptable, they'd said. It was... strange.

The smile began to fade into a frown. She shook her head, throwing out any unhappy thoughts. Today was a big day, she reminded herself, standing up. She was on her own and that was all that mattered. She could do whatever she wanted, and her parents couldn't stop her.

But... it was kind of... quiet, compared too what she was used too back home. Perhaps she should call-

Another shake. No! This was her moment, her time to shine. She could call the others later. She rolled up her sleeves.

It was time to unpack.

A knock on her door startled her awake. It was a quiet knock, the kind you gave when you weren't quite sure you were knocking on the right door or if you weren't sure you were welcome to knock.

She smoothed her bed-head back, dragged her weary butt off the couch. Almost everything was unpacked, but with her job's crazy hours she hadn't been able to get to the bedroom or bathroom stuff quite yet. (Which wasn't the smartest idea, now that she thought about it. Note to self, unpack bedroom and bathroom first next time)

She opened the door. "Caitlin?"

The blond sniffed, tears just on the verge of falling. Another not-the-one gone wrong, Jen decided. "Can... Can I stay here a few days?"

"Sure, why not?" She shrugged. "Come on in."

"Thanks." She murmured weakly. The door closed.

"There's some ice cream in the freezer if you want it." Jen readjusted her blanket and pillow, smoothed out some wrinkles.

"Chocolate?"

She nodded. "A girl's best friend."

A week later, Caitlin packed all of her things and moved in. Jen didn't mind. After all, who wouldn't want to have a roommate?

Scrubbing at some old food with steel wool, she sighed irritably. It wasn't coming off. She dropped the plate back into the sudsy water.

"Need some help?" Caitlin giggled, grabbing a spare sponge.

"Yes please." Her brow furrowed. "Wait... when did you start willingly doing dishes?"

She shrugged. "I had to make some extra money, so I signed on as a waitress. The newbie's always get stuck doing the dishes when the regular washer is sick, so I got a lot of practice."

"Morning brah's." Jude yawned sleepily, stretched.

"Did you take out the trash yet?"

He stopped, took a U-turn, and headed towards the overflowing trash bin. "I knew I forgot something." He chuckled.

"You better hurry before the trash collectors get here!" Jen advised, calling after the retreating boy. She angrily threw another plate back into the water. "Ergh! Why won't these stupid things wash!?" She huffed.

Caitlin chuckled, checking a glass for any missed food. "Maybe we should let those soak a bit." Dipping her hands back under the water to search for more dishes, she froze. "Jen?"

"Yeah?"

"When did Jude move in?"

She pursed her lip in thought. Last week? No, it'd been longer than that. A few months ago? Now that she thought about it, she did remember a second set of hands helping her unpack when she first moved in. "Honestly... I don't remember."

"Me neither..."

She glanced around the room. Jude's skateboard leaning near the door, Jude's pillow and blanket strewn across the floor (he slept on the couch now that she had her own room. Caitlin took the other free half of her bed), some of Jude's posters hanging on the walls (with her permission, of course)... her jaw dropped slightly. "Wow... what is he, part-ninja!?"

"Okay, I managed to catch up too the trash collector dudes." Jude panted, triumphantly slumping into the door frame. He laughed. "Believe me, they weren't happy about me stoppin' them." Noticing the stares, he straightened up. "What?"

"Er... Nothing, Jude. Nothing at all."

It was late Saturday morning Jen opened her door. Wyatt stood on her welcome mat, hair even messier than usual and clothes mussed up (quite possible from spending the night on said welcome mat), his guitar case slung on his back. He began fidgeting. "Look, I know I probably should have called ahead, but..."

"But?" She prompted, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms.

"Well... my parents want me too move out." He spoke in a rush, words jumbling together. "There, I said it, okay!? They want to have another kid and they need the extra space and I'm old enough that I should've moved out on my own by now but I haven't and-"

"Whoa!" She held up her arms. "Slow down a bit."

He sighed, put his head in a hand. "Right. Sorry." Taking a few seconds o beathe, he restarted. "My parents need my room for the next kid. I told them I have a place to stay..."

"But you don't?'

"I can't ask my girlfriend to let me stay with her! It's way to early for something like that!" He groaned, massaged his temple. "Can I stay here? Just until I find another place? I'll sleep on the floor if I have too.."

"Alright, but only until you find someplace to go." Jude walked down the hall, spotted Wyatt, and turned towards the kitchen.

"I'll make some coffee."

And he never left.

The bell rang. She sighed. Here we go again.

Wyatt, currently strumming at his guitar, Jude, cooking dinner (he was, surprisingly enough, the best chief out of all of them, once you realized it was in your best interest not to ask what he was using to cook), and Caitlin, who'd been browsing a magazine, glanced up from what they were doing to watch the show.

Opening the door, she looked up. Jonesy had always been taller than her, so getting any form of eye-contact when they were standing was a pain in the neck; quite literally. "Can I stay here?" He pointed at the floor.

"Why?"

He sighed. "They want me to get a full-time job."

She snorted. "You still haven't found yourself a job yet?"

"Hey, cut me some slack! Some of us don't grow up to be Olympians." He fell to his knees, comically grabbed her pant leg. "Please!?"

"No parties?"

"No parties." He agreed.

"No pranks?"

"No pra- wait, does that include pranks outside the house?"

"Jonesy."

"Alright, Alright. No pranks." He crossed his fingers behind his back.

"And no bringing home random girls you meet without asking first."

He raised an eyebrow, as though disinterested. "You know Nikki, Jen. Who else would I bring out?" In the background, Cailtin squealed, blathering on about how 'romantic' and 'sweet' it was. Jen ignored her.

"Alright, you can stay."

"Yes!" He jumped up, fist-pumped the air. "You're the best, sis."

"Don't remind me..." She grumbled, getting the sinking feeling that she was going to regret letting him in without checking his bags first.

Unlike the others (minus a skateboarding ninja), Nikki didn't knock on the door or ring the doorbell. Instead, she quietly opened the door in the middle of the night (she'd had a late flight), making sure not to startle anyone awake, a weary, but happy, smile on her face. She knew where to go and now she was here and she'd already been invited over the night before so why should she knock and wake everyone up?

Crossing the floor and around the sleeping boys, she crouched next to Jonesy, adjusted her heavy bags, then shook his shoulder. "Jonesy?"

Blinking, he focused his eyes on the girl hovering next to him. "Babe?" Then, realizing it wasn't a dream and that Nikki was present in the apartment, he sat up, tackled her into a hug. "Babe!"

"Omph!" Snorting, she lightly beat at his chest with her fists. "Jonesy! Get off!"

Wyatt, always a light sleeper, startled awake. He sat up from his spot on the floor. "Huh? Wha-?" Noticing the spectacle before him, she smiled and turned on the lights. "Nikki's back!" He called down the hallway. And soon everyone was awake, chattering and hugging.

"Hey." She stood, heavy bags dragging her shoulders down. She grabbed at a strap. "Do you mind if I stay here a bit? I lost my phone. My parents don't know I'm back yet."

"As if I would say no?" Jen smiled, hugged her.

"Welcome home, Nikki. We've missed you."

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