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“You know,” Noah replied, as he put away the refrigerated items, “I’ve never seen a single episode of Gilmore Girls.”

Claire was so shocked she almost dropped the bag she was emptying. “Can we please watch it?”

“Of course.” Noah grabbed the oat milk and put it on the shelf in his fridge, next to the nearly empty one already there.

Claire looked at the groceries spread across his counters, her oat milk in his refrigerator, and Noah casually planning to watch seven seasons of her favorite show because she asked.

She was beginning to suspect accidentally moving in had very little to do with where her things were.

She looked at him. “Noah.”

“Yes?”

“. . .You realize my oat milk lives here now.”

Noah looked up. “. . .Yeah. I figured it’d be lonely without you.”

She laughed. “I don’t think I’ve made coffee in my apartment in three weeks.”

“I know.”

“I think I’m accidentally moving in.”

“You’ve been accidentally moving in since this was still ‘fake.’” He put air quotes around fake.

Claire looked around. Her favorite mug sat beside his coffee maker. Her charger was plugged in near the couch. Two of her books were stacked on the end table, and her oat milk now had a permanent place in his refrigerator.

She had not moved in. But apparently, her life had.

“You aren’t wrong. But I’ve gotten worse.”

He kissed her cheek. “It’s okay, I like you this way.”

Claire looked from the refrigerator to Noah. Somewhere between takeout dinners, coffee every morning, and one carton of oat milk, she’d stopped feeling like she was visiting.

Somehow, Noah’s apartment had started feeling like home.

CHAPTER 27

The Marathon

Today was a very important day. It was the day Claire got to introduce Noah to Gilmore Girls.

And it was the beginning of the fall. Fitting.

“Coffee?” Noah asked her, starting a pot.

“Of course, it would be inappropriate if we didn’t have coffee for this,” she told him.

He shook his head. “You know, I would not agree to do this for most people.”

“I know. But I’m too stubborn for you to say no to.” She grinned at him.

He chuckled. “That you are.”

A few minutes later, they settled on the couch, coffee in hand. Claire leaned into him, pulling a blanket over them.

“Who would’ve guessed you could be so clingy?” Noah teased, amusement in his voice.