Togetherness

Six

Banes POV
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"RRRING—" My hand came down on the alarm clock, shutting off the ringing. Waking up this morning had not been number one on my priorities.

As depressing as it sounds, waking up, period, had not been amongst my priorities.

The past few months of summer I had spent alongside my grandmother, one of my only known living relatives.

As of yesterday, considering the burial was at noon the other day, I officially have no known relatives, aside from my brother.

Labeled an orphan doesn't seem like an issue, that is, until you are one.

So— with the death of my second last family member only a week ago, her burial being yesterday, I have all rights to be in the shitty mood I insist on being in.

Throwing my covers off me, I stretched out my sore body. Taking a break from the gym had caused pent up tension in my muscles.

What I really needed was a massage, I thought to myself.

Heading out of my room, maneuvering my way around the packed boxes, I reached the kitchen. Making my way to the fridge, I took out the last remaining item; a box of chocolate milk.

Draining it in seconds, the last of my unpacked belongings in the flat were gone.

I moved in with my grandma a couple months ago, but she's living in Kingston, and my graduate school was in Toronto.

Now with her gone, peace be upon her, I'm moving to downtown Toronto, Ontario.

I was there a week and some ago, at a fighting gym, and coincidentally met a guy who needed an additional flat mate. I took the offer up— he did say it was a penthouse— and both guys are attending the Law school I'm planning to start in, come September.

Gathering my last few bags, I headed downstairs to reception.

The flat we were staying in had a semi hotel set up, so I went up to the front desk to officially check out.

I cleared my throat as I reached the desk, announcing my presence.

Immediately, the busty blonde raised her head. Watching her eyes rake up and down my frame, I patiently waited for the onslaught of flirting I was going to have to suffer through.

I almost decided to turn away, forget about checking out. However; I didn't want to pay the rent for this shit hole and the new one.

Once the lady was done abusing me with her eyes, she opened her mouth.

"Hey handsome, how can I help ya?" she questioned, all the while obnoxiously chewing her gum.

"Uh, I need to check out. The flat's under the name Gloria O'Neill, the little lady who passed away a week back. I'm here to permanently leave the residence."

Pouting her lips and batting her eyelashes, she replies "Oh, but sugar I was hoping to get to know you better. Maybe you can take me out on a—"

Choosing now to cut her off, I broke in "I'm in a hurry, so if you could please permanently check me out that'd be a fucking help."

It was harsh, but it was the truth. Grey, the guy who offered the flat, hadn't specified on a time. And for some reason, Christ knows why on God's green earth I chose to, I decided on being early as opposed to risking being late.

I'm not a morning person, so my bad mood was to blame on that.

After my comment, the lady busied herself in processing my removal, still baring no shame when she looked up from her work on multiple occasions to give me a wink.

When she finished processing information, she took my keys to the residence.

Noticing her mouth was about to open, I briskly turned around and continued towards the exit, heading for the car.

Shoving my bags in the back of the large vehicle, I sat in the drivers seat and took off, preparing for the roughly 4 hour long journey.

—

After 4 and a half hours, I reached Downtown Toronto, and then it was me, my sailor having ass mouth, and the early Toronto traffic.

When I reached the apartment building on the given address, I made my way up, taking only two duffles and a large bag with my necessities in them.

Reaching the penthouse level, I looked down at the house number and rang the doorbell.

The realization that I had been up for way too long without food or rest settled in right then; as the door opened; and my mood once again turned me into Shrek's sibling.

Watching the door swing open, I was greeted with an angel.

The girl looked a year or so younger than me. With a head full of hair so light blonde it came off as white, I could almost immediately place her as someone I've encountered before.

And as she lifted her face to meet mine, I recognized her; I'd fought her around a year back.

I didn't go easy on her considering she was a girl, fighting was a place where equality was enforced more than it was in the real world.

If she got there, to a level where she was fighting me, she had skill. I'd delivered a hard blow to the back of her leg; that was the only point in our fight where I took dominant place.

Even after that, she recovered in record speed, nearly knocking me out with an uppercut. We'd been declared a tie, one of my first ever, and something that was a rarity in the fighting world.

Hell, she was a rarity. She looked like a flower, beautiful to a fault, from her facial features to her body.

But I knew not to underestimate her.

While my thoughts reoriented themselves, her's took a second longer.

I was internally pleased that she took time to check me out, but that thought vanished as I remembered my foul mood, and as my confusion settled in.

She was not Grey, nor was she Adonis, the other mentioned flatmate.

Was she a girlfriend? Did I even get the right flat? Agitation overtook my senses, and I opened my mouth as she did hers.

"You're not Grey, you're not Adonis either" I accused with narrowed eyes, pointing a finger at her.

She was quick to retort, "Well fuck, you're smarter than you look."

Angered and frustrated, I replied "Where the hell—"

I took a moment to get my thoughts together, while she stood there looking edible. "Look lady, did I get the wrong apartment?"

And there goes my ugly mouth, ruining whatever chance I could've had.

As she took in my words, her expression got on the emotion train from confused, to dumbfounded, to realization, and stopped at the go station in annoyed.

Wonderful.