Until There Was You

Chapter 2

'I hope you like the place when you see it in person,' he tells her as he holds open the front door for her and lets her step inside. The moment she does a kind of safe and relaxing feeling comes over her as she looks at the soft, duck egg blue walls and the comfortable looking, low, leather sofa which sits in front of a false fireplace. A modern looking bookcase stands next to it and a simple TV sits behind a small coffee table. A relaxed smile appears on her face as she takes in the open plan flat, before she notices the small balcony with its double glass doors. She looks at him questioningly as he hadn't mentioned the flat had a balcony too.

'Oh. . . yeah. . . I forgot about the balcony,' he admits. 'I tried to take a picture of it but none of them turned outright.' He walks over to the double doors and opens them for her. She gingerly steps out into the warm October air and looks down at the bustling street below them, before noticing there's a small, wooden table and two brown, wicker, chairs sitting in a corner underneath an alcove.

'I don't really use it much,' he continues. 'But you're free to use it as much you want.'

He then shows her one of the bedrooms. It's not big but it's warm and inviting, with daffodil yellow walls and a large,white, lattice window which overlooks the back of the tower block. A single bed sits in the middle of the room and a small, wooden bookcase along with a simple desk sit together along one side of the wall. As she looks around she spots the en-suite he had mentioned too, which looks almost brand new.

'Does it live up to the pictures?' he asks her as they leave the room.

She nods and as she slowly signs her answer to him, telling him that she really likes the place, he watches her hands carefully.

'Good,' he says. 'So. .. I guess I don't have to tell you that the room is yours. There's just one house rule I must ask you to follow.'

She nods, having already expected there to be some kind of house rules.

'We always eat dinner together. . . that's the one house rule,' he tells her.

She feels her nerves return when she hears this one and only rule. Having lived in halls for the past two years she's become used to always heating up her own dinners and eating them in her room. It had suited her lifestyle perfectly as she hadn't had to make conversation with any of her flatmates.

'Are you alright with that?' he asks her, trying to catch her wandering gaze. 'If we're going to be flatmates I think we should spend at least a little time together.'

She nods in agreement but it's a rather stiff nod. Still, he looks pleased with her answer and goes on to inform her that she can move in the very next day, as term starts on Wednesday, which will give her a couple of days to get settled in.

She has very little in terms of belongings and he's slightly surprised when he sees her single, small suitcase and backpack which he carries into the bedroom for her. But he doesn't say anything or comment on it. Just like with her selective mutism he doesn't intrude on her privacy by asking her sensitive questions, or probing for more information.

'You can put up posters and decorate the room with whatever stuff you want,' he tells her. 'It's your room now so make it your own. I have no problems with posters or pictures on the walls.'

She smiles at this even though she doesn't have any posters, or even any photographs to display. She has very little in the way of mementos.

'Well. . . I'll leave you to unpack,' he says while running a hand over the scruff on his face. 'Pizza should be here at seven so you have time to settle in before dinner.'

She's finished unpacking long before dinner arrives and she hears Tristan call her name, but she doesn't step out of her room. Despite him seeming like a friendly guy she's still a little wary of him and wonders if this situation is actually going to work. She hadn't expected him to take such an interest in her. None of her flatmates back on campus had. 

He knocks on her partly open door before stepping inside and asking her if she's going to join him. 'I ordered potato wedges and garlic bread,' he informs her with an enticing smile. 'And I can't eat it all by myself.'

She shakes her head from where she's sitting on the narrow, single bed as she pulls her legs up to her chest, and this causes him to frown a little as he looks at her, before he reminds her of his one and only house rule.

'I did say it would be best if we ate meals together,' he reminds her. 'Plus I think we could both use the company right now,' he adds in such a gentle voice it causes her to glance up at him, and when she sees the kind, hopeful smile he gives her she finds herself conceding.

She reluctantly joins him for dinner and he tries to get her to talk to him by using sign language, but she won't. She just nods or shakes her head in answer to his questions as she nibbles on her slice of pizza, while keeping her head down and letting her long hair hide her face from him.