Author's Note: New story! WOOT! Sorry it took so long in coming! I've been really busy lately and haven't been able to write every night like I usually do! Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy it, especially since it's taken forever! I think a brief introduction is necessary. This is more of an AU story, so there are a few things here and there that are different. First of all, I'm having Reno and Elena meet before the Turks, so they're teenagers here. That's all you really need to know for now. There will be bits that differ from the actual story plot as we go on. I just wanted to let you guys know so no one freaks out and thinks I've got the story drastically wrong. =P Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy it and please let me know what you think, since this is different than what I normally do!
Elena shivered and tucked her arms tighter around her body. Without the sun to warm the air, it tended to be rather frigid under the Plate throughout all seasons of the year except for Summer. In Summer, it was more of a moist, sticky kind of oppressive heat that made you feel nasty, like you needed a shower. The sixteen year old girl's petite form was too skinny to keep her very warm, and her thin jacket wasn't helping much. She shifted her backpack higher on her shoulders and sped up, not because she wanted to get home quicker, but because the increased speed would help her warm up.
No, Elena had no reason to want to be home, ever. Who on earth would ever want to come home to this? She looked up at the decrepit brick building that was her home and wrinkled her nose at it. Elena's father ran a whore house, and this is where she was forced to live. Not the greatest environment for a teenage girl. She took a deep breath and went around to the back door, preparing to sneak in like she always did. She'd rather not run in to any of the establishment's patrons, anytime, anywhere.
So far, so good. It was like this everyday when she came home from school. When she left, in the morning, it wasn't so bad. She peeked around a doorway, and finding the coast clear, slipped through the kitchen to the hall. There was no reason for any of their less-than-respectable patrons to be in the back rooms, but they weren't the only ones she was trying to avoid. Elena preferred not to run into her father either. She held her breath as she dashed on tip toe down the hall to her room, and she actually had her hand on the knob before a rough hand on her shoulder made her cringe and freeze in her tracks.
"There you are, girl," her father scowled down at her, "Where've you been?"
"School, like always," Elena replied tersely, shrugging his hand off her shoulder and not making eye contact. The man was tall, and big, intimidating most even when they didn't have a reason to fear him. And Elena did.
"Forgot your manners, eh?" the man shoved her into the door and she winced as her face bumped into the wood.
"I've been at school, sir," she grumbled, staring down at her feet and wishing he would just leave her alone.
"That's better," the man smiled smugly, revealing a few missing teeth. He had alcohol on his breath, not surprisingly. He almost constantly had some amount of alcohol flowing through his veins. Elena only hoped it would kill him sooner rather than later. As soon as he started moving away, Elena rushed swiftly into her room, locking the door behind her. It was habit at this point. It wasn't much of a deterrent, but she preferred as much distance as she could get between her and the world out there.
"Drop dead," Elena muttered, wishing it upon her father. Her mother had died when she was six, eventually beaten to death by her husband, Elena's father. And ever since then his abuse had turned on Elena. The verbal abuse didn't even get to her anymore, and she was usually able to avoid any real beatings. She couldn't avoid getting hit frequently, but she took it without complaining, fearing that if she angered him he would force her to join his ranks of whores. She shuddered. Prostitution was definitely not one of her aspirations.
Sometimes Elena daydreamed about someone noticing the bruises and coming to rescue her from her horrible life, but it was unlikely below the Plate. Sad as it was, most of her friends, were prostitutes living in the house. What could they do? No one at school could help her either. The public schools below the Plate were a joke. It almost wasn't worth it, except for the fact that it got her out of the house several hours a day. Any of the other kids there who noticed were incapable of helping her, and the adults had enough problems of their own to take notice of one bruised girl.
She sighed, and looked in the mirror, pushing her straight blonde hair behind her ears. She was having a particularly bad day, and it showed in her teary brown eyes. Oh well. Elena took a deep breath, closing her eyes and standing still for a moment. Turning her radio on to her favorite station, she picked up a bottle of purple nail polish from her dresser and sat on the floor, proceeding to paint her nails.
The chemical smell from the polish was giving her a head ache, so she hopped up to push the sheer purple curtains aside and open her window. Her first floor bedroom had a lovely view of a dirty alley, thankfully clothed in shades of darkness all the time so she didn't have to see it too clearly. She looked down at her toes, wiggling them slightly and appreciating the splash of color it provided.
"Alright, time to work," she cracked her knuckles and settled down at her desk to start on her homework. She'd been at work a little over an hour when her father's shouting from the hallway distracted her.
"Elena!" he shouted harshly, "Get out here and cook some dinner!" She sighed, rubbing her temples and smacking her pencil down. It wouldn't do to keep him waiting, he'd only be angry, so she got up quickly and ran off to make the man some food.
"This is disgusting!" the man grumbled, glaring at Elena after taking one bite of the pasta she'd made.
"Well, I'm sorry!" Elena shouted, standing up from the table abruptly. She'd had enough today. "It's not my fault you don't keep the place properly stocked with groceries! There's only so much I can do with the crap in here!"
"Don't talk to me like that!" the man roared, his temper flaring as he hurled the plate at the girl, hitting her squarely on the side of her face. Elena let out a yelp and stumbled back a few paces, her hands pressed over her cheek while the dish clattered to the floor, shattering. "It's your job to do the chores! Here," he threw a measly wad of gil down on the floor near her, "Here's some money, YOU go get the groceries! Insolent bitch!" He back-handed her across the face, making her cower back in the corner, steeling up for more and regretting letting her temper get the best of her. As her father raised his hand again, a scantily clad woman rushed into the room, her insanely high heels clacking on the floor.
"Oh, Richard," her voice was seductive and coaxing, but there was a slightly worried look on her face that she wiped away just as soon as the man turned to her. She beckoned to him. "Come on, quit sitting around back here and come up front with us and have a drink." Her long blonde hair fell around her bare shoulders as she leaned, almost posing, in the doorway. Her sparkly black mini-dress accentuated her ample curves. Richard grumbled something inaudible, but seemed to have lost his interest in beating Elena for the moment. As the man put an arm uncomfortably firmly around her waist, the woman cast Elena a quick smile.
"Thank you, Lexie," Elena mouthed, and the woman just nodded. That was Lexie, a prostitute that lived here that she had known for a few years now. The unfortunate young woman was one of several who treated Elena like a little sister, trying to protect her when they could from the horrors of her father and the usually drunken and horny patrons of the whore house.
Her cheeks burning from the blows, she sunk to the ground, pocketing the gil and cleaning up the mess as quickly as she could. She would have to go to the grocery store on her way home tomorrow. She could feel hot tears beginning to spill from her eyes as she rushed back to her room. The room was dark, so she turned on the lamp by her bed, which spread a dim warm orange light over a part of the room. She changed into her pajamas, consisting of sweatpants and a tank top, and curled up on her bed to cry.
The chain link fence clinked as he climbed over it effortlessly, vaulting over the top and landing easily on the other side. He didn't stand still for a second, but kept running down the alley. Some people had taken to fencing off their alleys, in the hopes of keeping out unwanted individuals, but it wasn't much of an obstacle for him. The two guys chasing him wouldn't find it much of an obstacle either, in fact he could already hear them climbing over it. It would buy him a little time though, since almost no one was as fast or agile as he was. Luckily he knew the city like the back of his hand, and he hadn't made the mistake of running into a dead end alley. This one connected to many others to create the maze-like feeling that much of the space below the Plate held. He'd try to loose them in here.
Skidding around a corner, he swore under his breath. He'd gotten so good at pick-pocketing that most people didn't even notice when he stole a wallet, but it was just his luck that the one time someone noticed, it was the badass with the anger issues who happened to have his equally badass and anger-issue-ridden friend with him too. Then again, what other kind of person roamed the streets of under-the-Plate Midgar this late at night. Judging by the glowing screen on the watch he'd taken the liberty of 'borrowing' from someone, it was about ten o'clock. Most of the innocent types fled indoors long before now, so he guessed it was what he got for lifting a wallet at this time of night.
He'd been running for quite some time now, and he had some space between them, but he knew he couldn't keep it up much longer. He was tired, and he didn't think that was the best way to go into a fight with two guys, both at least twice his size. Sparing a glance over his shoulder, he saw the two men just rounding the last corner he'd turned. If they caught up to him, he was screwed. Putting on a burst of speed, he slid around another wall and looked quickly for a place to hide. Damn it. There was a depressing lack of good places to hide. Something caught his eye though, and hope returned. An open window, a rare sight in the slums of Midgar, with no light showing. Hopefully, it was an empty room and he could just jump in for a second until they passed by and then he could jump right back out and run the other way. There were a lot of things that could go wrong with this plan, but he didn't exactly have a bunch of options at this point so he took it, praying nothing was below the window as he grabbed the sill and easily fell into the room, rolling to a stop along the floor.
"Shit!" he muttered aloud, realizing several things at once. The window had curtains, which had hid the small amount of light given off by a lamp, luckily nothing had been below the window, but most importantly the room was not unoccupied.
Elena had cried herself into an uneasy sleep, and had remained that way for several hours until a disturbance woke her up. Her reddened and puffy eyes blinked open to see a figure rolling through her open window.
"Shit!" the figure said, just as Elena jerked to a sitting position, and let out a scream. The figure was moving toward her before she'd even started making a sound, and had grabbed her, pinning her arms and covering her mouth, silencing her scream almost before it happened. She was panicking, staring up with huge, frightened eyes at the man who had grabbed her. She struggled but he was holding onto her firmly. She tried to scream, but the hand clamped over her mouth prevented any sound from coming out. He was completely still, his head turned slightly toward the window as if listening. Despite herself, Elena stopped struggling to listen too, and soon she heard running feet go past.
When all had been quiet for a moment, except for her pounding heart of course, the man turned to her, and she saw with surprise that he was probably just a little older than her. The dim light from the lamp shone upon sparkling aquamarine eyes set in a pale face that was surrounded by a shaggy mess of blood-red hair.
"I'll let you go if you promise not to scream," he said, the words themselves sounding threatening, but his whispering voice sounded far from scary, almost like there was some secret joke going on that she didn't know about. Elena nodded slowly, too scared to disagree. She wouldn't get anywhere screaming anyway. Anyone that heard her wouldn't care. He let go of her suddenly and backed up a few paces, as she practically flew in the other direction, scrambling across her bed so quickly she fell off the other edge and landed with a thump on the floor.
The tall boy leaned across her bed, looking down at her on the floor with amusement clearly showing in his face. She saw now that his hair was longer in the back, pulled into a ponytail that slipped over his shoulder as he leaned over.
"I didn't mean to scare you," he said apologetically, a grin appearing on his face "You alright?"
"Wha…" Elena stuttered, confused.
"It's an easy question," he continued, sitting on her bed and swinging his legs around to place booted feet down next to her as she remained frozen on the floor, "Are you ok?"
"I…uh…you just jumped through my window," Elena backed up slightly, falling into the circle of light spilled by the lamp, "And now you're asking about my health?" She was thoroughly confused, and still scared to death. Did he have some kind of mental issue too? Was he unbalanced? Was he going to fly off the handle any second?
"I was actually runnin' from some jerks who wanted to kick my ass, and I didn't think anyone was in here. I was just gonna jump in an' out real quick, but then you were here and I think I scared the shit outta ya, so I had the decency to make sure you were ok before I ran off again, seein' as you just fell on the floor and all…" A slight frown appeared on his pale face and he scooted closer, peering intently at her face, "But maybe I should be askin' about your general health…you've been hit." He stood up suddenly, grabbing her arm and pushing her firmly but gently further into the light.
Elena was too surprised to fight his hold as he took her chin delicately with his finger tips and turned her face to the side so he could examine the bruise that was already forming on her cheek and jawbone from the plate that her father had thrown at her earlier. She looked at him with confusion while his eyes were busy with her cheek. She didn't have much experience with people who broke into houses, but he wasn't what she would expect of one.
The little frown still on his face, he turned her head so he could look at the other cheek, where she'd been slapped. Elena couldn't deny that he was good-looking, and she blushed despite her best efforts to prevent it. Maybe his story was true, and he had just been trying to avoid a beating, something she could relate to. He didn't look mean and hard-hearted. He just looked…tired. His eyes flicked up to hers and she was embarrassed to be caught staring.
"You've been crying too," he observed, only making her more embarrassed. She pushed his hand off her face and backed up, wrapping her arms around herself and looking away.
"Get out!" Elena had recovered from her surprise, and now was watching him very intently, ready to dash out of the way if he moved.
"I wasn't gonna hurt ya, I promise," he tried to reassure her, holdings his hands before him, as one would approach a frightened animal.
"Just…get the hell out of here! You're not supposed to be here!" Elena was utterly baffled. She had never experienced a break-in before, and so far things were not going as she would have expected. She had no idea what to do, but she knew she should try and get rid of him. He seemed more interested in making her believe his story than beating a hasty retreat though.
"Fine, fine," he backed towards the open window, pausing just in front of it to renew his efforts, "I was tryin' to avoid a fight, not start one, so let's just calm down…" Elena leaped forward to her bed, grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. He looked surprised, then amused.
"Wow, well that really hurt," he smirked sarcastically, picking the pillow up from the floor and throwing it back at her, "I'm scared now."
"Just go away!" Elena begged, wondering if she was having some strange hallucination, "You're weird!" His eyes sparkled with delight.
"That's a first actually," he grinned, "I've been called many things in my life, but weird was never on the list before. If you really want me to go then, I guess I'll go. After all, I may not survive another pillow to the head." With a final devilish grin, he disappeared out the window as smoothly and silently as a panther.
Elena stood gaping, clutching the pillow to her chest. What the hell just happened? She looked around in confusion, slowly started to move again. She first went and shut the window after starting out of it suspiciously for a moment. Once again settled comfortably in bed, she dwelled on the past events, still in shock. It was hands down the strangest encounter in her entire life. She wanted to write it off as a dream, but it was too vivid. She tried to forget it, but her efforts were futile. The occurrence replayed in her head endlessly as she fell asleep. She was completely baffled.
The next morning, the events of the previous night still filled Elena's mind, and they still had her completely confused. She had no explanation. She dwelt on it constantly as she got ready for school and snuck out of the house. It was so strange, she suspected it was a hallucination. But there was no reason for her to be hallucinating! Stepping out of the alley as she left her house by the back door as usual, Elena looked up from her feet and stopped frozen in her tracks, her jaw dropping.
There, leaning casually against the brick wall was the red-headed boy from the night before. He noticed her at once, since she was only a few yards from him, and he smiled, straightening up and waving.
"Hey," he acted as if this were normal. That's it. Elena knew it. She was crazy and this was some demented figment of her imagination. She decided the best course of action would be to ignore it, and hope it went away. Putting this plan into action, she walked right past him without a glance or a word.
"Well, that's rude," he commented as she passed him. He quickly fell into step beside her, earning a nervous glance from the girl. "I guess I should introduce myself. I'm Reno." He stuck out a long-fingered hand, expecting a shake. He got nothing more than a quick look that told him she thought he was insane.
"This is not happening," she spoke tersely, "For whatever reason, I'm hallucinating and you're not real."
"Oh, I'm real alright," Reno assured her, seeming unbothered by the whole situation.
"No, you're not."
"Yes, I am," Reno argued, "If I wasn't real, would I do this?" Without warning, he leaned over and kissed her cheek suddenly. Elena let out a surprised shriek, coming to an abrupt halt and waving him away from her. She looked at him in shock and indignation while he looked back with pure amusement in his eyes.
"That doesn't prove anything!" she hissed.
"No, it doesn't," he agreed, smirking, "I just wanted to kiss ya."
"You're a jerk," Elena decreed, turning and walking as swiftly as she could, hoping he would go away soon, "Stop following me."
"Who says I'm following you?" Reno's long legs kept up with her pace easily, "I just happen to be going the same direction as you." There was silence for an awkward minute.
"I'm ignoring you," Elena clarified.
"That's fine, I'm just walkin'. I didn't ask for you to walk with me," Reno was obviously trying to hold back laughter. Elena sped up again, practically jogging now. Reno sped up to keep right beside her. She slowed down to a ridiculous pace. Reno slowed as well. She cast an angry glance at him. He didn't even notice, looking completely relaxed as he strode along, hands shoved deep in the pockets of his black cargo pants.
"So I told you my name. What's yours?" he questioned casually.
"I'm not telling you," she answered curtly.
"Why not?"
"Because."
"Because why?"
"Just because, okay?" Elena halted suddenly, turning to glare at him, "You're obnoxious."
"I try," Reno accepted it as if it was a compliment, "Goin' to school, I see." He looked at the school building before them, Elena's destination.
"Yes," she continued her glare, hoping to scare him off at some point, "Don't you?"
"Nah, I think it's a waste of time," Reno replied, wrinkling his nose in distaste. Good Lord, he's adorable. Elena couldn't help the rogue thought that passed unbidden through her mind, but she quickly killed it.
"So learning things is a waste of time, but following me around isn't?" Elena smiled smugly, thinking she'd caught him.
"Yup," Reno grinned happily, "You're way cuter than school." Elena was speechless. Before she could recover, a girl that sat next to her in math class saw her and called over.
"Hey, Elena!" the girl waved.
"Hey," Elena responded, remembering that she would be late if she didn't hurry on. With a final glare at Reno, she hurried towards her friend, relieved that Reno wasn't following her.
"So, it's Elena," Reno smirked, "I think I'll call you 'Laney." Elena didn't even reward him with a glance, she pretended she hadn't heard.
"Who's that?" her friend asked when Elena reached her, "He's really cute!"
"No he's not," Elena lied, pulling her friend along as she hurried out of Reno's sight, "Don't look at him, just walk." So that rules out the figment of my imagination theory. If her friend could see him, she wasn't going crazy. Was that good news?
Reno watched the blonde girl as she hurried along, only turning away when she was out of sight. Still grinning, he shook his head and laughed to himself. She was fun to annoy, and really cute when she was angry. He couldn't really explain what had inspired him to go back to her house and wait to see her again. It wasn't like she'd invited him. She had tried to get him out of her room as quickly as possible, and she'd been angry enough to see him again. Something about her caught his interest. Besides, it upset him to think of her father hitting her. He had no idea what on earth he could even begin to do to help, but he'd think of something. He always did.
In the meantime, Reno would keep close to her. Despite her thorny attitude toward him, Reno sensed no real hostility from her. He'd hang around until she was forced to accept him as a friend. He laughed quietly, envisioning how furious she'd be when she found him waiting outside of the building for her when school was over.
Elena noticed him almost as soon as she exited the building. No matter how casually he leant against the wall, doing nothing to draw attention to himself, the flaming mess of red hair on his head wasn't hard to spot. Narrowing her soft brown eyes until they were sufficiently threatening, Elena pulled her heavy backpack higher on her shoulders and sped up, walking right past without acknowledging him.
"Hey, 'Laney," Reno's voice was as friendly as if they'd known each other for years. He fell into step beside her, "How was school?" Elena tightened her jaw angrily at the annoying nickname he'd chosen to call her by. She didn't answer his inquiry and refused to even grant him a glance. "That bad, huh?" Reno continued, pretending to be oblivious to her attitude towards him, "Here, let me help." Before she even noticed what he was doing, Reno had taken the backpack from her and shrugged it easily over one shoulder.
"Give that back," Elena demanded, abruptly coming to a halt and crossing her arms, a disapproving frown on her face.
"Why? I'm just helpin' ya carry it," Reno grinned teasingly, walking on and turning backwards to keep looking at her. Elena was soon forced to abandon her stern stance and hurry to catch up.
"I don't need help, I can take care of myself," Elena grumbled, trying to reach for her backpack, but he easily maneuvered out of her reach.
"Doesn't look like it," Reno disagreed, suddenly reaching out and gently taking hold of her chin, tilting her face slightly upwards and to the side so he could get a good look at the yellow and purple bruise that had formed there from where the plate had hit her.
"Shut up!" Elena spat the words out fiercely, slapping his hand away. She lunged for her backpack again, but he whirled around keeping his body between her and the item in question. Grabbing her shoulder with a gentle but steady grip, Reno regarded her teary eyes seriously for a moment. He regretted what he had said. Evidently she preferred when it wasn't mentioned.
"I am helping you carry this backpack," Reno spoke firmly, hoping she would understand he just wanted to help her, "It's the least I can do." He let go of her and kept walking, knowing she would follow. Elena stood frozen for a moment, surprised by his sudden intensity. Maybe he's crazy, Elena wondered as she jogged a few steps to walk next to him.
"So if you don't go to school, don't you have a job or something you're supposed to be at during the day?" Elena questioned, giving up on the backpack and sneaking a glance up at his face.
"I work nights mostly," Reno answered, the little smirk that made him look like he knew something you didn't or was about to make a joke, back on his face.
"So what do you do then?" Elena had momentarily forgotten she was supposed to be trying to get rid of him in the midst of her curiosity. She was actually rather glad she didn't have to lug the heavy backpack all the way home.
"Oh, nothing really," Reno spoke nonchalantly, changing the subject, "Do you ever go hang out your friends from school? Ya know, study together or whatever?"
"Not really. None of us really have lives that involve a lot of free time," Elena commented, remembering that she was irritated by him and making the comment pointed at his obvious abundance of time since he was wandering around after her.
Reno slowed to a stop and swung the backpack easily off his shoulder, handing it back to her. Elena took it in surprise. Had she finally succeeded in getting rid of him?
"Ha, not so cute anymore, am I?" Elena smiled smugly, a blatantly triumphant look growing on her face, "Decided you've had enough?"
"No, you're definitely still cute," Reno made no attempt to conceal the huge smile that appeared on his face, "You're also home." He gestured to her house that they were standing in front of. Elena blushed furiously, the smug and triumphant look disappearing from her face instantly, replaced with embarrassment. She hadn't even noticed. "I'm leavin' because I didn't think you'd invite me in," Reno smirked.
"No, I'm certainly not!" Elena glared at her toes and practically ran to the door, desperate to escape the redhead's laughing aquamarine eyes.
"Bye, 'Laney!" Reno called out cheerfully, waving as she took refuge inside. Grinning, Reno turned and walked off, heading towards his tiny, trashy apartment to get a few hours of sleep before work.
The very first thing Elena did when she entered her room was to check the lock on her window, making sure it was closed and locked securely. No obnoxious redheads getting through here tonight! She smiled smugly, dropping her heavy backpack to the ground with a thump. Elena's stomach rumbled hungrily.
"Crap," Elena groaned, remembering that she was supposed to stop on her way home and get some groceries. In her haste to be rid of Reno, she had forgotten. Now she'd have to hurry. Peeking cautiously around the corner of the brick building, Elena looked right and left for a sign of Reno. There were no redheads in sight, so she was safe. Smiling triumphantly, she strode off, confident that the strangely friendly redhead would disturb her no more.
Author's Note: Alright, one chapter down! I'm about off to work on the next. Please review and let me know what you think ok? I can't wait to hear from all of you! I miss my reviewers! I haven't talked to many of you in awhile. =P