Dakota

We'd been at her new place for about an hour. Most of the furniture was placed inside. The tv was standing on the mantle above the fireplace, the couch was placed across from it, and a coffee table separated the two. Emily and Tatiana were getting the kitchen supplies in the cabinets and drawers, while Dylan and I were placing the bookshelves where she pointed out moments before. One on each side of the fireplace. 

Once we mounted them to the wall, we walked back out to the truck. There were boxes placed in the yard, we all agreed it'd be better to get the big things in first. I peeked in the truck. "Looks like we got that taken care of."

"I'll ask Tati if we should just bring in boxes now." Dylan said, already walking back to the door. He cracked open the door and asked without entering. He gave me a thumbs up, so I picked up a stack of boxes. The door was cracked so I pushed it with the boxes and found an empty space to put them. Now there were six small boxes against the wall behind the couch. 

Tatiana and Emily came out of the kitchen, "We finished those boxes." Emily said, grabbing one of the boxes. "We can all go through one box, then whoever finishes first can take another." 

Nobody had a better plan so we each grabbed a box. I opened the one I grabbed. Movies. "Where you you put the movies?" I asked as Tatiana grabbed a box. 

She opened up the box she grabbed, "on one of the bookshelves. It doesn't matter which one."

I picked up the box and carried it to the closer bookshelf, the left side. She moved her box next to me and sat down. I started to make stacks on the floor the way she once told me she liked to organize. By genre.  I made a stack for rom-com, TV shows, action, family, horror, etc. Horror was the only one that filled an entire shelf. "You have a lot of horror movies,"

"Yeah, I like the adrenaline rush they give me," she placed another movie in the horror stack. "Can't believe you remember I do things by genre." 

"Never watched one," I placed another movie in the horror stack. "Which ones are the best?"

"I prefer the Slashers, 'Halloween', 'Nightmare on Elm Street', 'Scream.' Those ones I watch the most. But the psychological ones are pretty good too. If you're interested maybe we can plan a night to watch some."

"Sounds like a plan." I put the last movie in the box in the family section and then got up to grab another box and move my legs before they went numb. I set the next box down, then went back to the movies. I began placing them on the shelves. Tatiana opened the box I placed down. I glanced over, CDs. 

"Do you do CDs based on genre too?" I asked placing a handful of movies on the shelf. 

"Yes, then I put it by artist, then the year it came out. If that makes sense." 

"Yeah it makes sense, I do mine the same way, actually." 

"I think that's where I got the idea," she pulled some CDs out. She started organizing them the on floor. A section for rock/metal, pop, R&B, soul, jazz, and hip hop. I began to help her organize the discs. The box held at least 300 CDs. It wasn't a bad collection just much smaller than the one I have. She paused for a second and studied the cd in her hands. "I think this one was actually yours. I must've forgotten to give it back," she handed it to me.

I looked at the cover, and sure enough it was mine. "I was wondering where this was." I handed it back, "You can keep it, I replaced it." 

She took it, "Okay, not gonna argue with that. It's a fudging good album," 

We continued talking about music. Finally, we finished organizing those and put them on the same bookcase as the movies. Dylan and Emily were still going through their first boxes, while arguing. I wasn't going to get involved so I grabbed the last box that was inside. Dylan noticed and announced he was going out to bring in more boxes. Then tagged on he was only doing it to get away from Emily. Emily stuck up her middle finger before going back to the box. 

I placed the box on the ground. Books. "Is this the same as CDs?"

She nodded so we got to it. She made a stack for the genres, romance, thriller, horror, non-fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, poetry, and classics. "I'll probably do sub-genres after," she said after a moment.

I grabbed a stick of books and put them in my lap then began sorting. "You have a lot of books," I said, placing four of them in the classics section. 

"Yeah, I love reading,"

"Me too, what's your favorite?" 

"Ooh that's tough, I'll have to think about it and let you know later. You?"

"Crime and punishment," I paused, "How did I never know you liked books and horror movies?"

"Honestly, looking back on us before, I don't think we were ever this honest with each other. Probably more me than you, but still."

"Yeah, I think you're right. We weren't that honest with each other." 

"Doesn't mean we can't start now."

She put the last book in the romance section. "Should I do the classics by author, or by subgenre?" she asked. "Not gonna do it now just for future reference."

"Author would probably work. But it's up to you." I replied.

"Well, for now, I'll just put them on the shelf as is but I'll probably do that once we're completely done unpacking. " she stood up. "Damn, your brother brought in a lot of boxes." as soon as she finished her sentence he came in with another box. 

Now there were about ten-ish boxes, then Dylan came through the door with two more. Tatiana and I grabbed a box and carried them back to where we were sitting before. I opened the box, first aid. "Where do you want these?" 

She glimpsed at the contents in the box, "They can go above the towel in the linen closet." she said, before pulling the stuff out of her box. 

After we finished the rest of the boxes. It was several hours later. Dylan started helping unpack again after he finished carrying all the boxes in. There was a box or two he called someone out to carry. 

Tatiana wiped the sweat beading, off of her forehead, "Thank you guys for helping. I can order some takeout if you're not too tired, or would like some food."

Emily and Dylan jumped at the idea. Instantly agreeing that food would be a great way to end the day after hours of helping. After she gathered the order she called and placed an order. Dylan offered to pick it up and nobody was going to argue with that. 

"I can help," Emily offered.

"What would airport guy think about that?" Tatiana teased.

Emily groaned then flipped her off, then she walked out the door with Dylan. 

"I think they have a thing going," Tatiana stated once it was quiet. "save us all," she muttered.

"Maybe you're reading too much into it. They're probably up to more schemes or something," 

"Well, they better at least bring the food here, or I'm gonna hunt them down," she joked.

She sat down on the floor, I sat down across from her. "I'd join you on your hunt," I replied, "Or at least cover for you," 

Her playful smile reached her eyes, "I assume you know what to do to make it look accidental?" 

I pretended to think for a moment, "Maybe..." 

"Perfect, if they don't come back with the food..." she stopped her sentence falling back dramatically. We laughed as she pulled herself back up. She got up to her feet. "I'm gonna get a drink, you want anything?"

"Uh, sure," I got up.

"I'm just gonna get some water, but feel free to help yourself to anything you see." 

I followed her into the kitchen, after she was done pouring the water, I poured some and then we walked back into the living room. Once again we found ourselves comfortable on the floor. 

We continued talking, and joking, and at some point ranted about music and books. Which was what we were doing when Dylan and Emily returned.