Rocket Queen (d.m)

0.5: Ms. Doctor

Henley's P.O.V

I'm completely out of breath by the time we arrive at Duff's apartment. We ran all the way from Sasha's to this dingy looking apartment complex. He said it wasn't that far from the bar, but I soon learned that was bullshit. It felt like we ran for a hundred miles.

"You said it wasn't that far," I breathe out.

He leans back against the door of his apartment. He shrugs. "I guess it didn't feel as long since I wasn't being chased when I walked down there."

Duff turns around to unlock the apartment door. My eyes widen as I see blood running down the side of his face.

"Duff!" I yell.

He jumps, dropping the keys. "What?" He asks, looking around frantically.

"You're bleeding!"

Duff laughs. "You really scared the shit out of me for that?" He bends down, grabbing the keys from the ground.

"You're bleeding a lot! Don't act like it's a little scratch you got by bumping your head," I say, walking over to him.

I try to look at the wound, but when I reached him he had already opened the door and was walking into the apartment. I follow him inside, taking in my surroundings. The living room was pretty bare. A nearly falling apart sofa sits on the wall. Beside it is a small record player sitting on a table. Laying by the table are stacks and stacks of records. I smile when I spot Shout At The Devil on the top of one stack. A bass sits in the corner of the room. Duff walks into the kitchen, leaving me in the living room all alone. I follow him into the kitchen, watching as he takes a beer from the fridge and nearly downs it with gulp.

"Duff, please let me look at your head," I nearly beg.

He looks surprised at my concern. Why wouldn't I be concerned? He could've gotten his ass beaten for me. I feel horrible that he got hurt because I couldn't shut my mouth.

He sighs. "Alright." He walks past me, leading me somewhere.

He walks into a small room. He turns on the light, making me realize that it's a bathroom. I walk into it with him, looking around for something to stand on. There's no way I'll be able to look at his wound very well with him being so tall. I sigh, deciding on jumping on the counter. I settle onto the counter. I grab Duff's arm, making him stand in between my legs.

I ignore how close our faces are. I can feel Duff's breath fan on my cheek. My heart speeds up as he rests a hand on my hip. I can safely say I've never felt this way with a guy before. I shake my head, moving Duff's hair out of the way. I can't be thinking that way about a guy I just met.

I wince just looking at the cut. "How the hell did this happen? I don't remember Hyde hitting you."

"Somehow he got a hold of a beer bottle and smashed it over my head. It was right before you pulled me off of him," He explains.

I nod. "That makes sense."

We're quiet for a moment as I grab a wash cloth and wet it. I start to dab the cut, making him flinch in pain.

"I'm sorry," I say.

"It's alright. It's just a bit of pain."

"That's not what I meant," I sigh. "I'm sorry you had to get into the fight in the first place. If I had just shut my mouth you wouldn't have bruised knuckles and a cut on your head."

"It's not your fault. He was the one being a dick," Duff says, looking into my eyes for a moment.

"But what he said is true. I guess I needed that dose of reality."

"What he said is bullshit. You are not a whore, okay?"

I scoff. "How would you know? We just met."

He shrugs, wincing again as I accidentally pushed down too hard. "I just know. I'm a very good judge of character."

"Says who?"

"Says me," Duff says rather proudly. "I've never been wrong about someone."

I giggle. "Is that right? Give me an example."

"Alright, I'll start with Steven. When I first met him I had the impression that he was a really sweet guy, he just doesn't really know how to interact with women, other than fucking them. He means well, he just doesn't know how to act. That was proven tonight with him and Madeline." Duff pauses, a grin creeping onto his lips. "He likes her, y'know?"

I smile. "I'm glad he's not just using her for sex. She may act like that's all she wants, but really she just wants a guy to love her."

"Can I tell you my impression of you and you tell me if I'm right?" He asks. I nod, eager to hear this. I finish up with cleaning his wound. I grab a band aid that's conveniently sitting on the counter and put it over the cut. "You're a real bad ass. You don't take shit from no one. But, you can be a huge softy. You love your friends deeply and are always looking out for them, even when they treat you wrong. You always want to be somewhere else other than here."

I'm speechless. He hit the nail on the head. How the hell did he know all of that? Has he been stalking me or some shit?

"H-How'd you-?"

Duff smirks. "I told you. I'm a great judge of character."

"That's a scarily accurate guess."

Duff shrugs, looking down at my lap where my hands lay. "Not really. I pretty much described myself."

I laugh, "I guess we're more alike than I thought."

"I guess so," He grins.

We just stare into each other's eyes for a bit. His eyes are this pretty hazel color. Brown with a gorgeous hint of green in them.

Duff starts to lean in, glancing down at my lips. I start leaning in as well. Just as our lips brush together, I pull back.

No. This isn't some stupid Hollywood movie where the guy stands up for the girl and they fall in love even though they only met a few hours before. That isn't real life. Real life fucking burns you. You end up falling in love with someone and pine after them for years, only to find out they only love you as a best friend. Then that person goes off and gets happily married, leaving you to be by yourself to wallow in loneliness and self pity.

I put my hand on Duff's chest, lightly pushing him away from me. He looks into my eyes, shocked. It's as if he really wanted us to kiss. I mentally scoff. He probably just wants to get into my pants like all boys do.

I shake my head, jumping off the counter. "Well, you're all cleaned up. You hungry?"

"Uh-Uh," He stutters not sure what to say. "I-uh-don't think I have any food. Unless you can make food out of booze."

I laugh, trying to ignore the tension that's now between me and the tall blonde. "Not unless you have cooking wine or something like that. I don't know what it's called exactly." I bite my lip, walking out of the bathroom. Did I just fuck everything up between us? I feel like we could be really good friends. "Do you have any takeout menus? Maybe we could order some Chinese."

Duff grins. "That sounds awesome actually. I was craving some Chinese anyways."

"I'm always craving Chinese food," I giggle.

Duff walks past me, a smile still on his face. He picks up the phone, dialing the Chinese place's number. He obviously has it down in his memory. I walk past him, feeling thirsty.

As I pass, I swear I hear Duff say something.

"Just another thing we have in common."