Piercing Hatred | ✔️

16

~Flora's POV~

I was woken up on Monday morning by the sound of a loud clanging sound from somewhere within my apartment, causing me to shoot up in bed in alarm. It sounded like something had burst.

"What the hell?" I grumbled as I stumbled out of bed and began to scour around my apartment, looking for something broken or knocked over, but there was nothing. I furrowed my brows and shrugged my shoulders as I returned to my bedroom, assuming that it was nothing after all. Maybe I had imagined it, or it was something I'd heard from in one of the apartments on either side of me instead.

Not thinking much of it, I went to get ready for work and did my usual daily routine, though my shower was shorter than usual because the water pressure was so low. There must've been a lot of people showering in the apartment complex this morning, I assumed.

I pulled on a high-waisted black skirt and a cropped white tee with a black graphic on the front, throwing a cropped black jacket on over the top of it. After digging around in one of my dresser drawers, I pulled on a pair of white socks that peeked out from the top of my black Doc Martens. My hair was still slightly wet by the time I was done getting ready and exiting my apartment, but I didn't bother to go back inside to dry it because I didn't care to.

Fiddling with my keys, I started off down the hallway, ready for the day ahead.

**

I groaned as I arrived home after work, digging my keys from my jacket pocket once I stood in front of my apartment door. I twirled my keys around one finger and twisted my torso until I heard my back pop, causing me to sigh in relief. I'd lifted a lot heavier boxes today than I was used to, and my back was aching.

Wanting to take a hot shower and change into something more comfortable, I stuck my key into the lock and twisted until my front door swung open. When the door opened, my eyes bugged wide and I allowed my jaw to drop in surprise as I hurried into my apartment, water wetting the bottom of my shoes. "Oh my..god." I squeaked, overwhelmed by the water that splashed lightly beneath my feet. "What happened?!" I wailed to myself, not bothering to close the door as I looked around for the source of the water that had flooded from my front door, into my living room and kitchen area. Some of it even reached down the hallway towards my bedroom.

After a minute of looking around, I finally found the source of the leak but, unfortunately for me, it seemed like it was a leak that was really bad. It seemed like a pipe had burst beneath my kitchen sink, maybe in the wall or something of the sort.

As I was staring down at my sink, I heard a light knock on the surface of my open front door. "Everything okay? I could hear you yelling from across the hall." Knox said, causing me to glance over at him with a frown on my face. His eyes scanned my flooded floors and his brows shot up in surprise. "What the hell happened here?" He asked, watching as I let out a heavy sigh and placed my hands on my hips. "A fucking pipe must've burst, and now my apartment is flooded." I grumbled, unsure what to do.

Knox frowned and dug a hand into the pocket of his pants, holding his phone in hand when he pulled it back out again. "I'll make a call, okay? Don't worry." He murmured, already typing away on his phone. I just stood here when he stepped out into the hallway to take the call, wondering what I was going to do. How unlucky could I possibly be?

A few minutes passed before Knox returned, no longer on the phone now. "So, the building manager is coming down here to take a look at your apartment." He told me. "Should be just a few minutes away, if you want me to wait here with you." He offered, peering at me closely as I considered it with uncertainty. Then, I gave a weak nod of my head and carefully made my way over to him by my front door, being sure not to slip and fall on my ass. "Thank you." I mumbled, stepping out into the hallway. I shook the water off my shoes, letting out a heavy sigh as we waited together.

Just as Knox had said, we only had to wait about ten minutes before a man in a suit came walking down the hall, his dirty blonde hair falling into his blue eyes. He looked to be in his early thirties and had a charming, warm smile when he approached me. "Miss Flora, yes?" He presumed, to which I nodded my head. "Would you mind directing me to where the damage is?" He asked me, and I pointed towards the kitchen. "Right under the sink, is where it seemed to be coming from." I responded, stepping out of the way so he could go inside to take a look.

Both Knox and I waited while the man inspected beneath my sink as best as he could without getting his suit all wet, my spine straightening when he returned after about fifteen minutes. However, judging by the look on his face, he didn't have any good news to share with me.

"Unfortunately, it looks like a pipe burst in the wall behind your sink," He began, only confirming what I had already suspected. "And it's been leaking for a while, so your wood floors are pretty damaged now. Aside from the pipe obviously being repaired, the floors will probably also now need to be redone as well." He informed me with a sigh, causing my shoulders to droop in disappointment.

"If you're okay with it, I can easily have someone come out here starting tomorrow morning to begin working on fixing that pipe and re-doing the floors, but I would advise that you find somewhere else to stay for a bit because it'll be rather busy over here until it's all fixed." He added, to which I gave a reluctant nod of my head. "That'd be nice, yes." I affirmed, giving him my thanks for coming up before he left, leaving just Knox and I in front of my apartment. A groan left my lips as I turned around, running my fingers through my hair in annoyance. This was just a giant inconvenience for me, in more ways than just one.

Knox studied me quietly for a moment before he spoke, his voice a murmur. "You can always just stay over at my apartment, you know. I wouldn't mind." He offered, causing my eyes to flick up to him in surprise.

I stared at him, considering his words but unsure if it was even a good idea. Then again, it wasn't like I had anywhere else that I could fucking stay, so maybe this was my best option. With that in mind, I gave him a light nod of my head and bounced my leg nervously. "If you don't mind, then it'd be a big help, so thank you." I admitted quietly.

He just nodded and gestured towards his apartment as he stepped away. "You can come over whenever you want, after you get anything you might need." He told me before returning to his own apartment, leaving me on my own. I sighed and headed into my apartment, making my way over to my bedroom. Already, the water had reached my doorway, wetting the floors there now as well. I scowled, knowing it'd have to be fixed, and stomped into my room to grab a bag to shove some of my things into. All I needed was one bag, really, especially since he was literally across the hall from me.

After I had put a few items of clothing in my bag and grabbed my bathroom necessities, I made my way over to Knox's apartment, where I then proceeded to simply stand in front of the door.

I hesitated before knocking, biting on my lip when the door swung open and he gestured for me to come in.