'It says they should just slide in and click.'

'Well, it's not fucking doing that, is it?'

'Don't get angry at it. Just-'

'I'm not getting angry! The design is just shit!'

Assembling IKEA furniture was the true test of friendship.

The new house was empty but teeming with flatpacks and toolboxes. The new white rug was the only thing that had been laid down with the sole purpose to be sat on. Stuntje and Apson were breaking it in by trying to put a console table together for the new television.

With an open tool box next to them and Apson at the instructions, tensions were running high and they had only just started.

'Nope. It's faulty. There's no hole there for the screw. We're taking it back-'

'It's there, Stunts. I can see it!' Hanna pointed to the obvious screw hole. Standing over Stuntje, who was on his back, Hanna's hands were on her hips as she tried to supervise the assembling.

Stuntje grumbled something under his breath before attaching the screw to the end of a screwdriver. Apson flipped back and forth through the instruction manual before sifting through the box of pieces. He held up what appeared to be part of a drawer, looked back down at the manual, before creasing his eyebrows in confusion.

'That's for the middle, schatje,' Hanna noted and Apson glared at up at her.

'I know that, but why is there only one drawer in here? There should be three.'

Hanna paused and looked to the three slots next to Stuntje's concentrated scowl. Lowering to her knees, she peered into the box and swallowed dryly.

Fenne carried some boxes from Joost's car in the driveway. With her arms full, she manouvered through the front door towards the staircase. She routinely looked down to her feet to check for each step before she headed for the bedroom furthest to the left. The door was already open, letting Fenne walk through and bend her knees to put the boxes down in the corner.

With a huff, she turned to head for the balcony where she could smell cigarette smoke. One of the double French doors sat open and she could see Joost sat assembling the second bedside table.

In just a white singlet and sweatpants, the blonde was hunched over as he screwed in the handle on the top drawer. His cigarette hung from his lips and brown sunglasses sat over his eyes. His legs were crossed and his feet were covered by white 'I LOVE JOOST KLEIN' socks.

'You made the right decision by coming out here,' Fenne said as she stood in the doorway. Looking away from his working hands, Joost puffed out some smoke from the corner of his mouth.

'If I'm going to stress myself out, then I'm going to smoke while doing it,' he answered and went to slide the drawer into the frame, only to have it sit ajar. 'Stupid fucking thing.'

There wasn't a person in the new house that hadn't sworn a string of curses. Moving was not theraputic and there was a lot of furniture that needed to be assembled. There were still boxes of belongings sat in the four cars outside, which Fenne was trying to bring in gradually. Hanna was meant to be helping, but she couldn't let Apson suffer Stuntje's short temper alone.

Making another trip to the cars, Fenne heaved another two boxes up the staircase and took a right. She walked past one door and lowered the boxes down to grab the handle. After pushing it open, Fenne pushed the boxes with her foot through the doorway and off to the side.

'Can you come lift this for me?' Teun asked while sat in the middle of his half-assembled bed frame.

'Sure.'

Fenne stopped on the last corner that needed finishing and lifted up the two pieces of wood. Teun slipped the screws in and started drilling to hold the corner together. Fenne waited until the hiss of the drill stopped before looking down. Teun thanked her, prompting her to let go and see the bed frame stand on its own.

As the man stood from the floor and headed for the box to grab the mattress base, he said,

'A friend of mine is coming around to help us hook up the TVs. I've asked him to bring lunch.'

'Okay. I'll bring him through when he's here. Who is it?'

'Daan. He has no hair.'

Fenne paused at Teun's description. She didn't think that was necessary information, but she hummed in acknowledgement.

'Okay?'

While Fenne grabbed more boxes, another car parked up on the gravel. She turned while leaning them against her shoulder and was surprised to see that Daan, indeed, didn't have any hair. He spotted the woman standing next to the open boot and waved. Sunglasses covered his lashless eyes and smooth skin replaced where his eyebrows and hair would usually be.

'Hello. I'm Daan,' he introduced once he was in front of Fenne. He shook her free hand while balancing some pizza boxes in the other.

'Fenne. Nice to meet you. You're helping with the TVs?'

'Yeah. I've seen you at some of the house parties. Never got to speak to you, though. Joost was always too hammered to introduce us.'

'Sounds about right.'

Leading Daan inside, Fenne waited for him to greet Stuntje and Apson in the living space. They hadn't finished the console table but two more drawers seemed to appear. Hanna was holding one and shook Daan's hand, introducing herself with a quick smile. At least she wouldn't have to deal with the two aggravated men on the rug alone, anymore.

'We'll finish this and then eat. I'm not lifting anything until I've had lunch,' Stuntje said definitively and no one argued.

Fenne left Daan with the others as she went to set down the last boxes before lunch. They needed to go into Apson and Hanna's room, which was next to her and Joost's. She set them down just as Joost stepped into the hallway after conquering two IKEA bedside tables.

Fenne went to tell him about lunch, but stopped at the sight of blood.

'What did you do?' she stepped forward and grabbed Joost's forearm. Stretching from the bottom of his thumb to the side of his wrist, a red slice teemed with blood against his pale skin.

'Screwdriver,' Joost mumbled. 'Fucking bitch ass drawer.'

Ignoring his bitter swears, Fenne pulled Joost towards the staircase. Her fingers stayed locked around around his arm to prevent him from slipping out of her hold. She knew that as soon as he stepped off of the stairs, Joost would try to dodge a teasing session from his friends. But when her shoe made contact with the floorboards, Fenne b-lined for the kitchen where everyone gathered for pizza.

At their entrance, everyone looked up from their slices. Fenne saw Daan's bare eyes for the first time with his sunglasses now hanging out from the collar of his jacket. He turned and caught sight of the blonde, making him throw his pizza slice down with a muffled greeting.

'Daan! How have you been, Mr. 305?!' Joost boomed, talking in English towards the end. Fenne let his arm go to search through the mounted cabinets and he took the moment to embrace his friend.

'If you want your TV mounted, I'd stop with the names,' Daan joked and slapped Joost's back loudly. Joost laughed and made sure to rub Daan's exposed scalp with his palm.

After three attempts, Fenne found the box of medical supplies. A general chatter continued through the kitchen as she put it down on the counter. She pulled out a pot of Sudocrem and a plaster large enough to stretch the length of Joost's cut. She felt Hanna's stare on her from the other side of the kitchen island, while Joost was halfway through a slice when Fenne reappeared by his side.

She wordlessly smothered the angry wound with cream. He continued to talk to Daan while Fenne tended to his arm. Stuntje, Apson and Teun watched in wonder as Fenne pulled the plaster out of its packaging and lined it up perfectly.

Joost didn't even have to look to know that everything was taken care of.

'You're babying him, Fenne,' Hanna noted. 'Did you put his socks and shoes on for him, too?'

'You didn't even cut up his food for him before you let him eat,' Stuntje said and Joost stopped mid conversation to look to his friend.

'Careful, Stunts. Your jealousy is showing.'

'Jealousy? Psh, watching you two-' Stuntje pointed between Joost and Apson '-become spineless jellies has made me swear off women. You won't see me being a simp.'

Retorts sounded from all parties as Fenne smoothed out Joost's covering. She crumbled the packaging in her hand and threw it into the bin. After washing her hands and finally taking a slice, Fenne tuned into the argument for the first time since stepping into the kitchen.

She felt Joost's hand on her exposed midriff. Her croptop sat above her curves, letting his fingerpads caress her skin. Joost never denied Stuntje's accusation of being a simp, nor did Apson. In fact, it was encouraged by the kiss Joost pressed against Fenne's temple with a mumbled 'thank you' for patching up his wound.

'Fenne, are you aware of what you're getting yourself into?' Daan peered around Joost, making Fenne raise her eyebrows.

'In what context?'

'Joost has never cleaned anything in his life; apart from his hair and ass. Are you prepared to live with a troll?'

'Funny, Appie,' Joost pretended to laugh. 'Hanna, do you know that Apson leaves his electric razor and trimmings in the sink? And I'm not just talking about his beard trimmings, because he can't grow a beard to save his life.'

Apson screamed while Hanna pulled a face of horror. 'Ooo's and 'ahhh's sounded and the high ceiling made the ruckus echo throughout the house. Teun threw his face into his hands with laughter and Stuntje leaned over the kitchen island to fistbump Apson's murderer. Joost could barely catch his breath, making him hiccup and sway in his place.

'Wait until you see the state Hanna leaves the bathroom in,' Fenne decided to join in. She saw the stiff shake of her friend's head, but couldn't help herself. 'She used our bathtub as makeup storage. We never used it!'

'Fenne's hair falls out in chunks!'

'It does!' Joost cried in agreement with Hanna. 'I find strands literally wrapped around my-'

The look that he received was enough to silence a crowd. Fenne turned around in his hold and Joost swallowed his words. His Adam's apple bobbled from her stoic green eyes and tight lips. The stares of his friends were irrelevant and he didn't dare look to Daan, who was surpressing a laugh at the tense couple beside him.

'Wrapped around where, Joost?' Teun pushed. Joost flickered his eyes to the man on the counter's corner, his lip twitching in the slightest.

'No where. No where, at all.'

'I think you should go hang some TVs, Joost.'

'Yes, liefje.'

---

The first night in the new house was supposed to be filled with drinks and music. Alcohol had been bought in cartons and most of the furniture had been assembled in the living room. They needed to toast the many house parties that were to come and kick-off the summer in their new, shared space.

But once Daan left in the evening, the enthusiasm died. Teun retired quietly to his room with drooping eyelids and Stuntje was slumped on the new sofa with a rolling head. Apson tried to get a drink into Hanna's hand, but it was left on the coffee table as she headed upstairs with a yawn.

'Let's just go to bed. We've got plenty of nights to celebrate,' Fenne said to those who remained and Apson blew raspberries in disappointment.

'If Nathan was here, he would never let the night end like this.'

The man grumbled to himself and shoved Stuntje's shoulder. His head dropped from the impact and he jolted awake, only to drop his eyelids when he saw Apson heading for the stairs. The man heaved himself from the sofa and followed, replying to Fenne's 'goodnight' with a waving hand.

Joost let out a sigh as he threw his head back against the cushion. His arms were crossed over his chest and his legs stretched out in front of him. His hands were raw from handling tools and his muscles ached from all the heavy-lifting from the day. Now that everyone had gone to their rooms and the house was quiet, Joost could have a moment of peace.

Fenne tried to power her limbs to take her to the bedroom, but couldn't bare the thought of heaving herself up from the floor. She had sat on the rug with Hanna when everyone was situated in the living room, but she was now on her lonesome. While Joost laid his head back with his eyes closed, Fenne didn't want to bother him in helping her up. So, she accepted her fate in the soft, fluffy confines of rug.

'Acid's coming to stay next week. He's helping with Pinkpop,' Joost slurred through his drowsiness.

'Why do you call him Acid?'

'It's his YouTube name. Sounds cooler.'

Fenne hummed and stole a glance up at the snoozing Klein. He had been in good spirits since moving out of Leeuwarden. His house had sold with no problems and Fenne had made sure she was present if he needed any support. Friesland was his birthplace and held lots of painful yet treasured memories. But with a smile, Joost handed over the keys to the real estate agent and was excited to move into a place with his favourite people.

With great motivation, Fenne got to her feet. She reached for Joost's arm and tugged it from it's crossed state, earning a groan. He let Fenne pull him up from the sofa and went limp over her shoulders, making her cry out at the added weight. Fenne stumbled while Joost's arms swung around in her vision.

'J-Joost, I'm not strong enough for this!'

He took his weight back and Fenne let out a sigh of relief, the two heading upstairs for their first night in their new home.