Eee. You people are lovely. When I checked my emails this morning I had no idea I'd get that type of reception. You lot made my day!
Just so you know, this is rated M for two reasons. 1) Language. 2) Sex. Maybe. Possibly. If I decide to let it go that far. Yep.
"Screen falling off the door, door,
Hanging off the hinges,
My feet are still sore,
My back is on the fringes,
We tore up the walls,
We slept on couches,
We lifted this house, we lifted this house."
- Anna Sun, Walk The Moon
"Just put those down there! Yep that's perfect."
Catherine shot the mover a smile as he placed down a box. He looked back at her and gave her a sheepish smile. He looked about 18 and it was clear this whole moving thing was a part time job to get some money. He walked back out of the apartment to get another box. Catherine checked out his backside as he walked past, not noticing that the person at her door was watching her.
"Moving in?" He asked.
Catherine's gaze flicked to him and she gave him a smile.
"Yep. Just came into town." She replied.
He nodded his head and dug his hand into his pockets. He walked into the apartment and looked around. It took Catherine a moment to recognize him. He was the guy who had given her phone back to her last night.
"You're the one who returned my phone, right?"
He nodded his head and turned to look at her.
"Derek." He said.
He pointed to the wall behind him and stared at her.
"That's some pretty serious mould you've got going on. I can get if off for you if you want... Or you can let jailbait over there do it."
He indicated to the young mover guy. Catherine rolled her eyes and a smile danced upon his lips.
"I was just checking-"
"His ass?"
"No! I was just watching to see what box he would pick up next."
"You do know the truck with your boxes is downstairs?"
Catherine bit her lip and her cheeks flushed pink. Derek let out a laugh and softly shook his head at her.
"So what exactly are you doing in my apartment?" She asked.
She raised an eyebrow at him and Derek's smile returned.
"I live upstairs. I heard the movers and I thought I'd come down and offer my services... But if you don't want my help?"
He made to leave for the door but Catherine quickly blurted out a no.
"It's okay, we could use another set of hands down here. I'm Catherine by the way."
"It is nice to meet you Catherine. Welcome to Beacon Hills... And I was serious about that mould."
Catherine let out a laugh as Derek made a joke about the dressing table they were trying to move to the other side of the room. The two of them brought it over to against the wall in her bedroom which only had a couple of boxes in it and the dressing table that they were holding. They placed it down and then made their way back out to the living room. It was the only fully furnished place in the whole apartment. By that time all the movers had left and Derek had removed the mould off the wall.
He watched as Catherine dropped onto the floor and lay down. She let out a massive sigh of exhaustion and closed her eyes. Derek smiled to himself and looked around the living room. From what he could tell all of the furniture was new. The only old thing, the only thing of her past, was a photo frame that held a photo of a guy.
"Who's this," he asked, "Your boyfriend?"
Catherine opened one eye to see what Derek was talking about. She shook her head and sat up, crossing her legs.
"Ah no. That's my brother." She said.
For some reason her voice sounded empty. There was no laughter in it or even exhaustion. Just nothing. Derek looked at her carefully.
"Where is he?" He asked.
"Dead. He died two months ago."
Immediately Derek felt horrible. It made sense to him why her voice was empty when she spoke about him. That had been his tone once. The two fell into an uncomfortable silence. Derek bit his lip and tried to think of what to say next.
"So! Have you got any dead relatives?" Asked Catherine.
She had clearly meant it to be playful and to break the ice. But when Derek's face went solemn she instantly regretted her words.
"Oh god. I shouldn't have. I didn't think. It's this thing I'm trying out, using humour to deal with it."
A smile spread onto Derek's lips and he looked at her.
"I don't think it's working." He said.
Catherine grinned and ran her fingers through her hair. She let out an ugh and laid back down on the ground.
"I'm sleeping here tonight. Too much effort to get the bed."
Derek stared at her. He waited for her to jump back up with a burst of energy and to go get the bed with him. When she closed her eyes he knew that wasn't going to happen. He stepped to her and nudged her thigh with his foot.
"Come on. It'll be the last thing. We get the bed and you sleep like a king." He said.
Catherine shook her head and pushed his foot away. He rolled his eyes and glanced back into the kitchen. His eyes settled on the box of wine she had brought with her.
"Fine then. I'll go get the bed. When I get it up here and put it in your room, we open a bottle of wine."
Catherine's eyes shot open and she stared at him like he was crazy.
"You can't carry it up here yourself!" She exclaimed.
"Bet you a bottle of wine I can." He replied.
Catherine gaped at him. He was crazy, he had to be. No one could carry a queen sized bed all the way up two flights of stairs by themselves. But, she was intrigued. She sat up and narrowed her eyes at him.
"Fine," she said, "But if I have to take you to hospital and they ask what happened... Well I'm not the one to be taking the blame."
Derek let out a laugh and nodded his head.
"Deal."
It took Derek 5 minutes to get the bed up the two flights of stairs and into her room. Catherine had settled back down on the ground when he went downstairs to get it, fully expecting him to come back up and pout at her. When he walked past her with the bed she gaped at him in full disbelief.
"How... Even..." She spluttered.
The two were standing in her bedroom. Catherine looked between the bed and him with wide eyes. He had even made the bed, pillow cases and everything. He grinned and pointed to the kitchen.
"I'll get the wine." He said.
Catherine slowly shook her head and followed him out of the bedroom.
