Apartment Hunting (Gavin)

When Gavin had asked her to move in with him, Mary first assumed it was only a drunken joke, but then they talked about it when they were both sober and it actually made sense. She would need an apartment when she finished Salem and she couldn't afford to live on her own. Living with her parents wasn't an option, no matter how much she loved them. She had gotten used to living at school and spending every day with her parents as she continued her education just seemed like a bad idea.

Sharing an apartment with the former Belladonna, however, sounded fun. Plus, she knew he wouldn't bother her when she had to study, seeing as he had his own studies to attend to. It was also a way to get to know Gavin better. All in all, it was a brilliant idea and Mary couldn't wait to graduate Salem and move in with him.

They had scheduled their apartment hunting on a weekend they were both free on. It wasn't easy, seeing as they were both pretty busy. However, they worked it out and there came a Saturday morning when Mary walked to Greenswitch Village and Apparated to Boston.

She looked around nervously, but she was in an empty alleyway and nobody saw her appear out of nowhere. The witch walked to the café Gavin and her had agreed to meet in front of, got herself a coffee to-go and waited for the boy.

Ever since his graduation party Gavin had been feeling different, it was a combination of finally being away from his brother and getting used to the looks he got from people. He'd decided to move to Boston a little early, working at a local cafe and rent a room in a hotel until he and Mary got their housing situation squared away. Honestly when the girl had agreed to move in with him, Gavin was a little bit shocked, but in the long run it actually seemed like a good idea. It definitely appeared that the two of them would get along great as roommates, and it'd be nice to get to know her on a more personal level. Gavin got the feeling that there was more to the younger teenager than she showed on the surface.

When the day approached for the two of them to seek out an apartment, Gavin had arranged for Mary to meet him at his job as he was getting off and the two of them catching a cab into the city to start looking around. He was still on the clock when Mary arrived waiting for his relief to get in so he could leave. Catching the girl's eyes Gavin held up a finger signaling that he'd be done in just a moment. He smiled a bit and ran his hands through his shaggy locks turning his attention back to the man he was waiting. From Gavin's demeanor and body language he was obviously flirting with the older man. Something that he never would have done even a few months ago. But then again a few months ago he never would have considered moving in with a girl he didn't know all that well, and who he was pretty sure was a lesbian.

It was like the closer Gavin got to his eighteenth birthday the bolder and more confident in himself he began to get. He'd even started going to the gym a few nights a week to keep up the bulk that he'd built up while volunteering over seas. His coworker arrived and Gavin wrapped up the rtest of his duties before clocking out. Trotting up to where Mary was Gavin casually stripped out of his work shirt the middle of the crowd revealing the muscle shirt he wore underneath. Slinging the shirt over his shoulder he looked at Mary with a smile. "Well then future roomie shall we go?"

"Well then future roomie shall we go?"

Mary turned around with a huge grin and nodded. She was in a good mood, it was sort of sunny outside and this whole thing was exciting. Also, she liked how confident Gavin had become. She remembered him as a shy boy from Salem, but now he had muscles and didn't have any trouble showing them off.

"I got some Wi-Fi in the Variation Room the other day and I looked up who's giving their apartments for rent in Boston. Quite a lot of them, apparently." The Head Girl pulled a list out of her bag and gave it to Gavin to look at. On it were addresses, phone numbers and the names of the landlords and landladies.

Getting Wi-Fi at Salem was certainly of the bigger challenges in Mary's life and she was quite proud of herself for achieving it. It seemed ridiculous to her, not to have internet at school and she worked hard for at least two weeks to get it. Of course, she could only work on that in her free time, which was almost never. As a reward, she watched Captain America with Lydia.

"Where do you want to go first?" she asked Gavin and took a sip of her coffee.

Looking over the list that Mary had come prepared with, Gavin couldn't help but smile. His plan had been to just wander around aimlessly looking for 'For Rent' signs. Mary's plan seemed much more efficient. "Why am I not surprised that one, you got Wi-Fi at Salem, and two that you came decked out with a list." He teased the younger girl playfully as he scanned over the addresses. He'd been familiarizing himself with the city since moving here and had a pretty good idea of where he was in relation to all the locations. He grabbed a pencil out of his pocket and started labeling them in numerical order of which ones would be closest to visit.

He passed the list back to Mary. "These are the ones I think would be worth looking at in order from closest to here working our way down towards the bay. The ones I skipped are either in neighborhoods too rich for our blood or on the complete opposite end of the spectrum." He placed his arms behind his head and smiled at Mary, "The first one is less than a mile away, maybe we should just walk."

Glancing at the younger girl, Gavin wondered if she'd e offended if he asked about some of the things that had happened at his graduation party. He wanted to know about Mary, but wasn't sure how to go about it.

"Why am I not surprised that one, you got Wi-Fi at Salem, and two that you came decked out with a list."

Mary blushed a little and grinned. It was one thing being proud of herself for getting wifi and another to have someone be (at least a little) impressed over it. She stayed quiet as Gavin looked over the list and instead took in her surroundings. Boston wasn't the prettiest city in the world, but it was alright and she could see herself living there.

She took the list back, gave it a quick look-over and nodded to Gavin, it seemed like a good plan. "Mhmm... I don't want to live in a rich neighborhood quite yet. Gotta become rich and snobby first." she joked. "I'm fine with walking." the witch said and put the list back in her bag.

The brunette could feel him looking at her as they walked and she looked back at him, slightly raising her eyebrow. "Something on your mind?" she asked, hoping he wasn't changing his mind about living with her.

Gavin walked with his arms behind his head and a soft and warm smile on his face as the headed towards their first destination. Mary had apparently noted the inquisitive look in his eyes and Gavin decided that the best approach would probably be to just bluntly ask what was on his mind. "So I'm pretty sure you might have heard it through the grapevine or picked up a bit on it at the party, but I figured I may as well get this out in the open...but I'm uh...pretty much gay. I hope that that isn't a big deal for you or anything." He scratched the back of his head watching the younger girl's face for a reaction. If the two of them were going to be living together then it was best that they clear things like that up now.

They reached the building in which the loft they were looking at was located and Gavin stood expectantly awaiting an answer.

"So I'm pretty sure you might have heard it through the grapevine or picked up a bit on it at the party, but I figured I may as well get this out in the open...but I'm uh...pretty much gay. I hope that that isn't a big deal for you or anything."

Mary smirked as he started talking and was focusing the majority of her energy into not giggling. She pretty much figured out that he was into guys at the party, but she thought everyone else found out the same thing about her. She wasn't exactly hiding her sexuality and she was sure more than a half of Wormwood knew about her and Lydia. Gavin seemed a bit more concerned about what she thought about him being gay, though, and Mary didn't want to ruin a big moment for him with giggling.

"Well, I'm really gay, so..." the witch smiled, before glancing up at the building and noting they arrived. "It's kind of opposite of a problem, really. We'll never bring the same people home and we won't argue over girls or boys." she added, joking.

Then she pressed on the buzzer for the said apartment and told who they were. A few seconds later, the door was buzzed open and Mary entered the building, holding the door opened for Gavin.

Mary's words did a lot to comfort Gavin, so far he'd been batting about fifty percent when it came to coming out. He was glad that he could add another person to the list of people that didn't change their view of him. As he stepped into the lobby of the building he looked at Mary with a smile, "On the brightside that means that we won't have to compete over suitors." He laughed as he headed towards the elevator to go up to the floor they were suppposed to be on.

"So what exactly are you looking for in a place?" He asked curiously. The two of them hadn't really discussed the specifics of their endeavor just the general premise. "I wouldn't mind a view of the bay and a large living space. Oh and a big kitchen is a must. I don't know if you know this of me but I actually love cooking."

Mary laughed and nodded along. "It all works out!" She followed him to the elevator and let him press the button, she had kinda forgotten what floor they had to go to. Gavin then went on to describe the kind of apartment he'd like to have and the witch couldn't help but smirk. "So you haven't really thought about it?" she asked, sarcastically.

"Actually, that's amazing, you can cook! I can make cereal and that's about it." Mary admitted with a sheepish smile. "I agree with having large living room space and, oh, we could get a dog!" the witch said, half-jokingly. She's always wanted a dog, but her Dad was allergic, so she couldn't get one.

"Otherwise, I don't know. I'd like to have my own room and I wouldn't mind a big bathroom."

At the mention of a dog Gavin broke into a wide grin, "Mary that would be the best thing ever...I'd love a dog. My mother was always anal retentive about cleanliness so I never got one as a kid." If he hadn't already been excited before the seed that Mary had just planted in his head had him pumped. The door opened up and Gavin lead the way to apartment number listed knocking on the door. The real estate popped out and the smile on her face faltered for just a second when she realized her visitors were a pair of teenagers. Though to her credit she recovered quickly and lead Gavin and Mary into the living room.

With a gasp Gavin looked around noticeably impressed. Wasting no time he ran over to the window and gazed out onto the city. "Wow the skyline is gorgeous from up here." He said to no one in particular as he let himself become enraptured with the view. Reluctantly he moved away from the window after a few moments to examine the kitchen. It had plenty of storage and came stocked with an updated fridge. The place was nice, though Gavin wasn't sure how Mary was feeling about so he gazed over to see if he could gauge her opinion by her face. "So do you want to go take a look at the bedrooms Mary?" He asked remembering that a large bedroom had been one of the things she wanted.

"So, we're getting a dog?" Mary grinned widely and chuckled with delight. This day was getting better and better. She walked up to the door with Gavin and traded her wide grin into a polite smile when the real estate agent greeted them. Mary shook her hand after greeting her and was incredibly glad the woman was a professional and didn't talk down to them just because they were teenagers.

Gavin made a beeline to the window and the witch couldn't help but laugh under her breath. The place was beautiful, airy, it had room for everything they needed. She asked the agent how the landlord felt about pets and when the woman said they were pet-friendly, Mary wasn't hiding her grin anymore. It seemed perfect, especially for a starters apartment.

She joined Gavin in the kitchen and it looked nice, but since she didn't really know a lot about cooking and things like that, she wouldn't really have a say in what the kitchen should be like. Nodding at Gavin, the witch followed the agent-lady out of the living room into a somewhat big room.

"This is the first bedroom and the view from here is even more breathtaking." The lady said, sending a look at Gavin and Mary figured she overheard him before. "The two bedrooms are connected with a bathroom, which is this way."

The place was getting better by the second, as Gavin heard the real estate agent explain to Mary that the property was pet friendly. He grinned brightly as the two of them trotted after the woman towards the bedrooms, the sound of her heels clicking on the floor bringing the fact that there was no carpet to Gavin's attention. "Well that'll make cleaning a lot easier." Gavin said with a smirk knowing that since they were moving to the muggle part of the city that their use of magic would be limited.

As the door opened to the bedroom Gavin made a slight noise of excitement, the woman hadn't been lying when she said the view was even better from in here. Gavin could easily see himself waking up to this sight every morning. The only downside he could would be sharing a bathroom with not only Mary, but all of their respective guests. But since they shared a good chunk of the same friends and there were worse things Gavin could imagine than accidentally walking in on Mary while she was in the shower it could be over looked.

"Well Mary I love the place and have the money for a down payment right now," he looked over at the younger girl with a soft smile, "Whaddya say?"

Mary smiled at the excited little noise Gavin made when they walked into the room and couldn't help but get excited as well. The view was gorgeous, from this room as well as from the living room and Mary could see herself curled up in an armchair with a cup of cocoa, enjoying the view. The only thing left to see was the other bedroom and she hoped it wouldn't be bad. She really liked this apartment and sharing it with Gavin would be wonderful.

She followed the lady through the bathroom - which was huge and lovely - and grinned at the sight of her potential new room. The view wasn't much, but it was airy and the light made it look incredibly lovely.

"Well Mary I love the place and have the money for a down payment right now," he looked over at the younger girl with a soft smile, "Whaddya say?"

The witch turned around with a bright grin on her face and nodded. "Sounds amazing! I'll pay you back as soon as I get a job in the summer." she promised. Her parents weren't very excited she was moving out on her own and were hoping that witholding rent money would make her move back in with them. Ridiculous.

"I know the smart thing to do would be look at more places, but I really, really like this one..." Mary said, looking around the room once again. Her room was connected to the living room as well, so she wouldn't have to walk through Gavin's every time she wanted to go to the kitchen. It was perfect.