who's next?

chapter 23

Word count - 3818

   The sound of your ringtone awoke you from your sleep. Drowsily taping around your new bed for the source, you found it beside your right hip. bringing the phone to your face, you squinted at the bright light as you tried to read the contact

"kurapika..." you mumbled, still half asleep. you set the phone back down trying to ignore it. they could just call back another time, it's not anyone important like leorio or... KURAPIKA?!

you hastily answered the phone recalling the name you muttered a few seconds ago. you were surprised he even called you at all.

"kurapika! you finally called me back!" you shouted causing him to hold the phone slightly away from his ear on the other end

"Yeah, sorry, I've been busy. leorio told me what happened, are you alright?" he clearly expressed his concern

so he can answer leorios calls but not mine? rude. "Yep, perfectly fine." you lied feeling the small sharp pain in your leg.

"well, that's good to hear" he responded. you began to say something, but he spoke before you "I'm back in York New, I'm actually with Leorio right now." oh.

"that's good! why do you sound disappointed?" you put him on speakerphone, tossing it onto the nightstand

"I'm not." he lied." something is off. "I was just calling to make sure you were alright, and to invite you down here for tomorrow."

"is something wrong?" you asked re-making the bed

"Just come down, I'll explain everything when you get here." he dodged the question but answered it for you anyway in his tone. so something is wrong.

"oh, ok sure. what time?" you tried to sound like you weren't having an anxiety attack. you hated when people told you that they needed to tell you something or show you something but don't tell you what. in other words, you didn't like surprises.

"I'll text you the address and everything, see you soon." he dismissed the phone call, hanging up before you could agree.

you stared at your phone resting on the nightstand, wondering what he needed to talk about. did someone die? is he dying? is leorio ok? All of these thoughts swarmed your head like a crib mobile.

when your bed was made, you went into the bathroom to clean yourself up. a long shower was fitting for the rainy weather, so you took an hour one.

afterwards, you dressed in a hoodie and cargo pants, as you only planned to do housework today.

taking a taxi, you rode into town and hit the casual stores looking for home decor, and of course groceries. you stumbled across a pet section and considered getting a kitten or a puppy one day. you took a mental note of that.

while you were out, you felt lonely. you didn't mind being alone, but you despised feeling alone. you realized you needed to branch out, and eventually make new friends who weren't kids or ruthless killers that barely had time to hang out.

maybe hitting another bar soon would help you make new friends.

when you arrived back home, you decorated your bathrooms, stored the laundry room, and stocked your very first groceries. you had just finished setting up your living room when the doorbell rang. you weren't expecting anyone, and you're sure nobody close to you knows your address yet. so you suspected that it was a neighbour welcoming you.