A/N: Hi guys, sorry this chapter took so long. I'm unfortunately not really satisfied with this part, I had a great idea, but it seems like it didn't quite turn out as well as I wanted. Anyway, please still let me know your thoughts on this. I hope you enjoy it at least a little! 💜

October passed along with the warm days and November came crashing with the cold, sooner than Maja had expected. As much as she liked the winter season, she didn't half as much enjoy the chilly temperatures on her delicate skin. The days felt much shorter, therefore coming back from work at late hours all by herself, creeped her out more than ever before. Hence why she was extremely thankful when a specific friendly guy walked her home every now and then.

Maja enjoyed Stephan's and Andi's presence more and more as days passed. She did not have a chance to hang out with the whole group again, apart from the one time when all the boys came into the café, but she was at work, so it wasn't the same. She knew the ski jumping season was just around the corner and as much as she was looking forward for it to begin, she couldn't imagine what it would be like without the boys, especially the two dorks who lived the closest. Their company had gradually became almost an everyday thing and she didn't want it to change.

The girl was truly happy that when the guys leave, she would at least still have Lena. The two girls exchanged numbers, yet they didn't even realise how much they would enjoy texting each other. They understood each other very well and chose to meet up once or twice, even if it was just to be bored together. Maja was incredibly grateful for meeting such wonderful people who easily accepted her into their group.

***

Stephan groaned as he felt something damp against his cheek. He didn't bother opening his eyes, he just turned onto his other side, while wiping at his cheek lazily with the back of his hand. He assumed it was just Andi messing around, so he simply pushed away whatever it was.

"Andi I'm not in the mood for cuddles," he mumbled, shoving his face deeper into the pillow. Just as he was falling back asleep, he felt something nudging his arm repeatedly.

"I swear to god Andreas, you have five seconds to stop being annoying," he huffed. When the nudging didn't stop, the boy lost his patience and swung back round angrily, ready to yell at the younger boy. Much to his surprise, Andi was nowhere to be seen which made him confused, but what he saw beside him instead was much more confusing. Stephan sat up instantly, suspiciously eyeing the black and white furred pet.

"Andreas! Get your ass over here right now!" He yelled. Nothing.

"Wellinger!" Stephan hissed a bit louder this time since the first time didn't bring any results. Eventually, a hungover Andi appeared in the doorway of Stephan's room.

"Can you explain why on earth you are yelling in the middle of the night?" The younger boy mumbled while rubbing his eyes. "My head is throbbing." Andi didn't even realise it was 10am.

"Can you explain why on earth there is a dog on my bed?" Stephan spoke frustrated, slightly mocking his tone.

"What the hell are you-," Andi began, but he paused when he finally opened his eyes and saw a small husky on his best friend's bed. His face showed pure confusion for a slight second, but then a smug grin appeared on his face. "You know, it's none of my business who you have in your bed, but I don't think that's-," this time Andi paused because he had to dodge a pillow that had been flung in his direction by Stephan. The husky jumped off of the bed and chased after the pillow, almost running into the wall.

"Andreas did you steal a puppy?" Stephan sighed, narrowing his eyes at Andi while tugging at his own hair.

The younger boy's eyes widened. "What? No! Of course not. He is a stray dog." Andi began to explain while he squatted to stroke the energetic pup. "I was coming back from the club and I saw him outside that waffles place in town, I swear I saw him there before too." He informed, picking the dog up and laying down on Stephan's bed with it.

"So your drunk self thought it was a great idea to bring him here?" The older boy furrowed his eyebrows.

"Well yeah, look at him! He is so cute and tiny!" Andi pouted as he played with the husky. "I'm calling him Waffles." He added proudly, looking into the pup's eyes before glancing up at Stephan who kept a straight face.

"Are you planning on keeping him?" Stephan asked. "Listen Andi, he could actually be someone's dog, they could be looking for him and he could also be unhealthy!" The boy continued, trying to be smart about the whole situation.

"Oh come on, we can find out if anyone has lost Waffles and then we'll take him to the vet!" Andi beamed like an excited little kid, quickly forgetting his hungover state. Stephan remained unsure though. "Don't make me beg you, just look at our faces," Andreas pouted again, making his best puppy dog eyes to convince Stephen.

Stephen sighed. The corners of his eyes crinkled while his lips slowly curved into a smile. He liked dogs and after all he had to admit that Waffles was a very cute puppy. "Alright, alright, but we have to be at training in an hour so what are we going to do with him? I don't think already leaving him alone in here will be a good idea." Stephan brought to attention his worries.

Just under an hour later the two boys were knocking on Maja's door, while Waffles tried to explore every corner of the staircase. As soon as the girl opened the door, she was attacked by Andi throwing a set of questions at her.

"Are you working today? Could you do us a favour?" He spoke fast. It had turned out that Waffles already managed to make a bit of a mess in the boy's apartment so they were running late for the training because they had to clean it up.

"Good morning to you too Welli!" Maja rolled her eyes. "I start in three hours and it depends on what it is," she spoke calmly, moving out of the doorway so that they could come in. A frown appeared on the girl's face when Andreas turned around and picked something up.

"Meet Waffles. Please look after him. Thanks!" Andi said simply and placed the puppy down. Andi was ready to leave, but Maja stopped the two boys from running away.

"Why do you have a husky?!" She questioned with wide eyes. She knew for a fact that the two boys did not have a dog before.

The boys gave Maja a quick summary of how the puppy ended up in their apartment. The girl wasn't too sure how to feel about the situation. On one hand she thought it was such a typical thing for drunk Andreas to do, but she also thought it was cute that the boy was so caring of the little pup to try giving him a home.

"Andi you struggle to even look after yourself, how are you going to look after a dog?" Maja teased with a playful smile dancing on her plump lips.

"Yeah that's why I have you and Stephan," Andi spoke cheekily and winked at the girl who stared at him in disbelief. "Anyway we should go. Have fun with your new friend!" Andi beamed before pressing a kiss on the girls cheek as part of saying thank you and goodbye, which Stephan then repeated.

"You owe me!" She shouted after them. She shut the door and looked around.

"What are we going to do with you li'l buddy, hm?" She squatted right beside the husky, petting him gently as the boys left. At first the puppy moved away from her, clearly scared of the newly met stranger. The girl sighed, leaving the dog alone while she searched for some food to give to him, just like Andi advised.

Maja never had a dog in her life, therefore she found herself googling 'human foods that are safe for dogs". She didn't want to poison the pup or make him ill. Stephan assured her that they would get some dog food on their way back, but for now she was just going to give him some left over chicken and water.

The girl minded her own business, doing the usual chores as Waffles discovered her apartment bit by bit. Eventually Maja ­had a minute to sit down and turn on the TV, much to her surprise the pup ran over and hopped onto the sofa.

"Hello you." She smiled down at him. She carefully placed her hand out, trying her best not to scare him. Waffles only moved closer and the girl got a chance to pet him.

Almost three hours had passed since Andi and Stephan left and Maja was impatiently waiting for their return. She had to leave for work in the next five minutes to make sure she wouldn't be late, but the boys were nowhere to be seen. Waffles managed to find himself a comfortable spot on one of the pillows on her sofa and he fell asleep after an extensive game of catch.

Maja made the decision to leave the puppy in her apartment. She had no other choice. She locked the door and left a spare key in a hidden place for the boys, sending them both a message with instructions since neither of them were answering their damn phones.

***

"Oh hello, Sir. I Didn't expect to see you here today." Maja grinned at the guy who had just taken a seat on the opposite side of the counter, behind which she was stood.

"Maybe I just like to see the surprised look on your face," the brunet claimed as his lips quirked into a not so subtle smirk.

Unexpectedly, the café wasn't busy today, which explained why the girl was just standing around polishing glassware. Thankfully no one noticed she was polishing the same glass for the past fifteen minutes to look as if she was doing something, mainly so that her boss wouldn't give her something actual to do.

"Seriously though, I thought you had training this morning." Maja furrowed her eyebrows at him. She put the glass down and began to make Richi's usual order.

A few days ago she eventually discovered that he came to the café so regularly because the guys often trained at the sports centre just opposite. She couldn't believe she hadn't figured that out beforehand.

"Yeah we did," he began. "But I wasn't feeling it this morning so I thought I would pop round later and here I am."

The girl gently bit down on her lip and smiled. "And it had nothing to do with the fact you're your favourite waitress wasn't working this morning?" Maja teased, placing the hot coffee in front of him. She rested her elbows on the counter and cupped her chin in her hand. She held his gaze flirtatiously, making him laugh.

"Yeah, I really miss Bertha" Richard joked, causing them both to have a small laughing fit.

"Always knew you're into older women Richi." Maja chuckled, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

Bertha was a fifty five year old, grumpy woman who worked at the café for a few days. She quickly got fired because she was extremely impolite to the customers. Even Richi was a victim of the women's awful manners and ever since he told Maja about it, it's became an inside joke between them.

"Anyway, how'd you know I had training this morning?" He questioned curiously, slightly changing the subject back after they had their joke. "Been stalking me have we?" Now it was his turn to tease the girl.

Maja instantly rolled her eyes before quickly grabbing a towel, she pulled a disgusted face at how soggy it was. She noticed one of the managers walking out of the kitchen so she started vigorously scrubbing the invisible dirt on the counter.

Once the manager had disappeared she threw the dirty towel away, wiping her hands on her apron. She glanced back up at Richi who was watching her with an amused look on his face. "You know, I actually have these two idiot neighbours and one of them got drunk last night so he thought why not bring a stray dog home!" The girl said dramatically. Richi's brows drew together in confusion, 'what does this have to do with training?' he thought. "So my dear, I had to stay with the pup while they went to training." She began to explain.

Maja informed Richi about everything from what the boys told her about Waffles, to how she had to leave the pup because they didn't show up on time.

"What time do you finish? I want to see this cute husky," the boy stated.

"I'm free in half an hour," she replied cheerfully, after taking a look at the giant clock that hung on the wall.

"Great, I'll drive you home." Richi insisted.

"Oh what would I do without you Richi?" Maja playfully flirted, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. Which resulted in both of them laughing.

***

"I told those two fools to lock the door when they leave," Maja groaned instantly when arriving back at her apartment. "But noooo, they can't even do one thing for me and now look someone broke into my apartment!" The girl panicked, seeing all her stuff thrown around the living room. She was furious.

"Well no one really had to break in if they didn't lock-," Richi paused as soon as Maja shot him an angry glare and he raised his hands innocently. "I didn't say a word."

"This is unbelievable!" She growled.

Richard opened his mouth to point out that the TV was still in its place along with the speakers, but he jumped when Maja smacked her bag onto the kitchen counter, before storming off to her bedroom. She kept the majority of her most valuable items in there.

She slowly opened the door to her bedroom and searched for the light switch. As soon as the light flicked on, her piercing scream echoed through the apartment. Another scream followed.

Richi instantly grabbed a knife that was on the counter and he rushed to Maja's side. He breathed a sigh of relief when he realised there was no threat.

"Andreas for the love of god what are you doing in my bed?!"