Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and all related characters belong to Hiro Mashima.

Aries opened her eyes and rubbed the sleep out of them. Something seemed off, the way the light came through the window was different. Looking around, she began to panic as nothing seemed familiar, then she recalled the events of yesterday. Taking a few deep breaths, Aries began to calm down as she remembered where she was. Also, that her clothes were in a box back in the livingroom. She gave a stretch before tossing the covers to the side and walking out into the hallway.

"Good morning, Leo," Aries yawned, walking to the box with her clothes.

"Morning, Aries," Loke replied after finishing off his toast. "How… How are you feeling," he asked gently, "Did you sleep well?"

"Better now," she said softly. She picked up the box with her clothes. "Thank you for asking."

"To be honest, I thought you would be sleeping in," Loke said.

"Oh, I just couldn't," Aries began explaining, "this is around the time I would be getting ready for…" She was about to say work, but she no longer had a job. "I would already be up by now."

"Okay," he rubbed her shoulder. "Do you think you'll be fine? I can take the day off if you don't want to be alone."

"No, no… I'll be fine." She insisted. Her plan was to get her belongings put away so they were not in the living room all boxed up anymore.

"If you say so, but let me tell you a few things about the complex before leaving," Loke gave a description of where the main things she would need to know were: mail boxes, laundry room, and a small market that was down the street. "That should be about everything for now," he glanced back to the clock, "I need to get going. I should be back around five."

"Okay, be safe," Aries told him as he left.

"Always. Later, Aries," with that, Loke was out the door.

The room fell silent with not another person inside. Aries decided to take the time to unpack her belongings. The clothing box that she was holding was the lightest and was the one she carried in first. In the room, she separated the clothing into two piles of clean and dirty. The dirty pile seemed much too small to do a load and she decided to take care of that later. Before moving on to the next step she switched into a casual outfit. The next box was her books and movies, slightly heavier but she was still able to carry it. For the time being, Aries just placed them on top of her dresser in an orderly fashion. Her nicknacks were last and she was careful when handling those. They were placed in front of the books and movies. Except for a lamb plush toy she has had for about as long as she could remember, that was placed on top of her bed. She did not care if it looked childish, it made her feel at ease.

"It feels a little more like home now…"

It took her about an hour to do all that and it was… Only ten O'clock. There had to be a way to fill up all that time. If Aries had known the area better, she would have gone for a walk, but she was did not feel like getting lost during her first day there. Her stomach growled reminding her that she did not have breakfast yet and should probably eat. However, there was a big surprise waiting for Aries in the kitchen.

"Messy," Aries exclaimed. The sink was piled high with plate, pots, and pans; the food that was on there had dried on a while back. "How has he been feeding himself if all his pots and pans are dirty?" With a very heavy sigh, she put it upon herself to clean the mess. "It's just s-so dirty. I'm surprise Leo hasn't made himself sick. Let's see… I remember unpacking it..." Aries walked back to her room in search of a certain article of clothing, "... It should be… Here it is!" she held up her apron from her job of waitressing. "Angel never said I had to give back the uniform. Only that I did not have to go back to work," she had a sly grin to herself.

Walking back to the sink, Aries began tying on the apron behind her back. "Now it's time to clean up!" She made a closer inspection of the dishes. "... I think I better let these soak in some soap water for a while." Sure she had her share of dish duty back at the restaurant, but none of them had ever been this bad unless one of the cooks burned the food to a crisp. She turned the faucet and let the water run and poured in some dish soap, waiting until the waterline just about two-thirds of the way up the sink.

Leaning her back against the counter and resting her hands on the edge, Aries felt something sticky. "Is that… coffee and sugar?" She looked around the whole kitchen, all of it needed to be cleaned. "I've really got my work cut out for me don't I?" The next half hour was spent wiping the counters, stove top and sweeping the floor. When she went to empty the dust pan, the next thing she discovered was that the trash can was filled to the brim with take-out food containers. "... Is that why his dishes haven't been cleaned? Well I better take these out." Except she didn't know where trash was supposed to be dropped off in this complex.

"I'm sure I can find it!" She said with confidence pulling the trash bag out of the can. Aries was almost out the door when a note caught her eye.

Aries, here's a copy of the key to the apartment since I'm not sure when you'll be up.

-LokeF

"Loke" was crossed out.

- Leo

A small bronze colored key was hanging on the hook right below the note. "Oh, I'll need this," she unhooked the key and dropped it into the front pocket of her apron. Turning the handle with one hand while carrying the trash bag in the other, Aries was out the door. "I wonder where it is," she closed the door behind her and locked it. She decided to walk down one direction and would hopefully run into someone that could point her in the right direction.

"Aries? Aries, is that you?"

She turned to where the voice was coming from, "Virgo?" When was the last time she saw her, high school?

"Aries, it has been a long time. How have you been? When did you get here? It must have been a while since you're carrying a trash bag." Virgo inquiring.

"I o-only got here last night, Virgo," Aries informed.

"Then why do you already have a bag full of trash and seem to know where to dispose of it?" Virgo unintentionally answered Aries's previous question.

"Well, to be honest, I had no idea where the trash was supposed to go, I w-was just looking for it. As t-to why I already have a full bag, it's Leo's."

"Okay, why do you have big brother's trash?" So Virgo still called Loke 'big brother' even though they we not related.

"I'm sort of staying with him right now…" This is the first time that Aries said it and still could not believe it.

"Oh, I did not realize you and big brother had that sort of relationship," Virgo assumed. "Should I call you 'big sister' from now on?"

"No, no, no. We're not t-together. We're just sharing an apartment," Aries said with her arms up. "C-can you show me where to put the trash?" She tried to change the subject.

"Certainly," Virgo said obediently, "right this way."


Closing the door behind her, Aries leaned back against the door for a while. That trip to throw out the trash took longer than she thought since it turned into an hour of catching up with Virgo. She needed a moment to recollect herself. "Oh, the dishes should be ready to clean now…"

The next half hour was filled with cleaning, drying, and putting away the dishes. It was noon, tired, she lied down on the couch. "M-maybe I'll just rest my eyes for a bit…"

The next thing Aries knew was that she was waking up on the couch. "What time is it," she gulped. There was no response from anywhere in the apartment, so Loke must have not been home yet. She ran into the kitchen to check the clock on the stove. "How did I fall asleep for three hours," she cried into the empty apartment.

Her stomach growled for the second time that day, "Oh that's right… I haven't eaten yet today." Instead, she ended up cleaning. Checking the refrigerator for food, the only thing that Aries could find was the pizza from last night, some jam, and half a loaf of bread. "I really don't know why I expected to find multiple ingredients after finding all those containers." She just made some toast with jam to tie her over until dinner. Dinner… What were they supposed to do for dinner? The only food in the refrigerator was not enough for two people, so she checked the pantry. "... Of course it's empty." She rested her chin on her fist, "Leo mentioned a market, I could probably go there."

She took off her apron and grabbed her purse. It was a bit of walk to the market, but that was because she nearly got lost looking for it.

'I don't have much left, so I need to budget carefully,' Aries thought to herself. She found a packet of pasta shells and thought that could be spread pretty far. 'Something else to go with this, maybe some pasta sauce…' she walked a little further down the aisle, 'Oh, that's kind of expensive.' It was not her first choice, but she ended up picking up a can of tomato sauce with slices. 'That's a little thin to go on top of pasta.' Aries kept looking through the canned goods aisle and found a can of mixed vegetables. 'I think that's all I can afford, I better go pay.'

She used up what was left of her money paying for the ingredients. The walk back was rather uneventful.


"Time to cook," Aries cheered to herself while setting the items she just bought onto the counter and tying her apron back on. "Now where's that stew pot?" She added water to the pot and set it on the stove to boil. After the water was boiling she added the pasta shells. Soon the tomato sauce to make a base for the broth. Then, the vegetables were added last. "Let's taste it… Needs salt… Tell me he at least has…" she opened what looked like the spice cabinet. "Found it!" Aries added a few shakes and give it another taste, "Much better. Oh, I hope he likes it…I've never cooked for him before." She felt her cheeks heat up a little. The blush died down in a few minutes.

The sound of the door unlocking was the next thing Aries heard followed by, "Something smells good in here." In came Loke with his coat slung over his shoulder, he walked into the kitchen to figure out what he was smelling. "Aries… You cooked?"

"Y-yes, I did. I'm sorry if you don't like it, it was a little last minute…" Aries started saying.

"No, it's great." He wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Though you didn't need to do this."

"Go sit down, the food is getting cold." She pulled away so that she could serve two bowls of the soup. "Here," she set down one of the bowl on the coffee table in front of Loke, who was sitting on the couch. "Careful, it's hot," she warned, before taking her own seat on the opposite side of the couch. Before eating her own meal, Aries waited until Loke took his first bite for his reaction.

"This is really good, Aries. Thank you," he said smiling and continued eating.

"You're welcome…" she softly said with a small smile and a light blush. She too began eating.

A few minutes later Loke asked, "Is there anymore?" He was already standing up and walking over to serve himself seconds and returned with a full bowl. "This is really good!"

"Y-you really like my cooking," she asked bashfully, looking down at her own bowl.

"Yeah," he answered gleefully. "This is the best dinner I've had in a long time. Thank you."

"Y-you're welcome," she continued to be bashful and focused her attention back to her food. The blush deepened.

Loke chuckled softly, and continued to eat. However, he looked closer to what was in the soup. He did not recall buying any of these and if he did, they were old and long forgotten. "Say, Aries, where did you find the ingredients?"

"I w-went shopping with the money I had left after I saw there wasn't much to cook with here…. I'm sorry. I just w-wanted you to have a good meal since you're letting me stay here."

'She's so cute,' Loke thought to himself, resisting the urge to just scoop her up and hold her tightly. Instead he just quickly finished his bowl. His thoughts were broken when he heard a clink of Aries's bowl being set down on the table.

"Are you done," he asked. She nodded and he replied with, "Are you sure you got enough?" She only had one bowl.

"I'm sure," she got up and began to pick up the two empty bowls.

"Aries, wait, I'll take care of the dishes," Loke insisted. "You cooked, so it's only fair that I clean up." He took the bowls before there could be any objections. Though he could have sworn those bowls were dirty in the sink. "Did you also do the dishes," he asked in shock as he remembered how badly he let the dishes pile up and now the sink was empty. He set the bowls down and looked all around the kitchen, it was… clean. "Were you cooking and cleaning all day? I am so sorry, if I had known you were going to clean up, I would've came home earlier and helped," he hung his head in shame in his hands and embarrassment that Aries had cleaned up after him.

"It didn't take long, r-really," Aries told him. Well, not long considering how

"But it was my mess, not yours…"

"Don't worry about it, let me do this for you," she said softly and proceeded to give him a gentle hug. "You've already done so much for me."

"Fine," he rested his hand on the top of her head and wrapped the other around her waist. Though, he did reluctantly let go when Aries tried pulling away. "Did you do anything else today?"

"Well, I unpacked my boxes so they're not in the way anymore. Ran into Virgo and talked to her for a while, that's about it."

"So it was Virgo that saw you. I was getting asked by everyone if the rumors were true." Loke mused.

"Who's everyone?"

"Our group back from high school. Well except for Libra and Pisces, since they don't live here. Oh, that reminds me! You won't believe it, Scorpio and Gemini moved in yesterday. They were the ones that rented out what was left of the vacant apartments."

"How funny that we all gathered here all together," she giggled a bit. Loke laughed in agreement. She shuffled where she was standing.

"If you don't mind me, I'm going to watch some T.V. for a bit," he shuffled to the couch. "Care to join me?"

"J-just for a bit," she returned to the seat on the couch she sat at during dinner.

The two of them shared some laughs during the sitcom they were watching. Had small argument over whether or not to change the the channel when the show they were watching ended and went to the next program. Which was compromised with one episode of that program and the other getting to choose what they watched next with no objections. Loke took off his sunglasses and rubbed his eyes as they began to grow tired, but he was not going to go to sleep yet.


Loke cracked open his eye, the room was dark except for the light that was glowing off of the television. "I must have fallen asleep watching T.V. again. Better get to bed." Though he had difficulty getting up when he could not move his arm because it felt like it was being pinned down. Looking down, he saw it was Aries's head resting on his upper arm, "Aries," he was shocked, but kept his voice low to wake her up. "She must have fallen asleep to."

He was about to wake her up when she started whimpering in her sleep. "Please… D-Don't hurt me…"

"I'd never hurt you, Aries."

"...Get away…" Aries continued talking in her sleep.

Loke realized that she was not talking to him, "Aries, wake up! It's just a dream! Aries! Aries!"

She woke gasping and tears wetting her face. "It was just a dream…. It was just a dream… Thank goodness it was just a dream…" She felt that she was being pulled up.

"You're okay, Aries. I've got you… What were you dreaming about," Loke asked cautiously. He watched her carefully as the light of the television reflected off her face. Though she did not look like she was going to talk any time soon as she continued to sniffle and wipe tears out of her eyes. "Wait here," he returned with a glass of water. "Drink this, it'll help."

Aries nodded her head and took the glass, soon taking small sips.

"Think you can talk or would you like to wait until morning," Loke rubbed her shoulder while asking this.

"It was… the break-in… but I was there… alone…" Aries leaned closer to him.

"You're safe here," Loke promised. "Come on, let's go to our rooms and change to go to sleep. It's late," he helped her off the couch and turned off the television. Grabbing her hand, he lead her through the darkened apartment that he knew better than her. "Here's your room, Aries. See you in the morning, okay?"

"Okay, Leo." She walked into her bedroom. Aries felt around for the light switch, the light burned her eyes for a moment. Aries pulled out an oversized shirt and some pajama bottoms, pulled off her day clothes and threw them into the laundry pile. Immediately afterwards she changed into her sleepwear, turned off the lights, and crawled into bed. "It's okay, it was just a dream," she whispered to herself hugging her plush toy lamb to her chest.

She was not sure how much time passed before she got up and carried her pillow with her, leaving. Before Aries knew it, her legs had carried her to in front of Loke's door. "I can't believe I'm doing this," she murmured into the pillow. "Leo…" She knocked on the door and waited for an answer, when a minute passed and it seemed like there was not going to be an answer Aries turned to walk back to her room.

The door opened with some fighting with the door handle, "Aries is that you. Did you have another nightmare," Loke tiredly rubbed his eye while he answered the door with a yawn.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you up Leo. And you have work in the morning, I'm sorry." Aries's hold on her pillow tightened.

"No, don't worry about it… I wasn't sleeping…" he yawned again and leaned against the doorframe.

"Leo," Aries whined, "you're lying."

"Okay, maybe I was asleep, but not for very long. What brings you here anyways," Loke asked.

"Can I sleep with you." Aries asked innocently.

"Wh… Wh… What?!" Loke was choking on his own spit and slipped off the door frame. There was no way he had just heard what he did. Maybe this was really all a dream.

"N-not like that," Aries shrieked, now more embarrassed than she already was when she realized the double meaning in her choice of words. "I m-mean I don't w-want to be alone r-right now… I'm afraid of the nightmare coming back. B-but if you don't f-feel comfortable, I'm sorry for asking," she heavily stuttered. "I'll just g-go back to my room…"

"You're fine… It's fine…" Loke cleared his throat. "You just don't want to be alone. Um… Uh…" he stepped aside so she could walk in.

"I'm sorry," Aries scurried past him.

"The bed is against the wall, so um, you can get in first," Loke could not be more thankful for how dark it was because he was sure his face redder than a tomato. "Ladies first," he tried to lighten the mood.

"Th-thank you," she tossed her pillow by the headboard and crawled underneath the covers. "I'm sorry for taking s-space in your b-b-b-bed."

"Don't worry about it. I have a double size. S-so don't worry about space in my… bed," his voice cracked on the last word. He Inhaled through his nose to regain his composure and exhaled. "Don't worry about it," he got in on what was his side, "Let's just think the center of the bed as a buffer."

Aries nodded but realized that Loke probably did not see it, "Okay," she yawned, "Thank you Leo…" Her eyes felt heavy, "Good night…" Her soft breathing was the only thing that Loke heard.

He watched her for a few minutes and then turned back to his side. He could not help but the conversations that he had during work…


"Yo! Leo!" Aquarius called over.

"Hello, Aquarius. How are you and the baby feeling?" Loke asked out of courtesy.

"Bloated and the early mornings suck," she hissed and rubbed a hand over her belly that was beginning to show. "But better now that Scorpio is moving in now that he landed a better job on this side of town. You know, since I'm on maternity leave and all… I mean we talked about kids, but we thought we would have been married first."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. You got a minute," Aquarius inquired.

"I have time to spare, what is it?"

"I hear Aries is staying at your place. That true?"

"Yeah, where did you hear that?" Loke knew the arrangement was going to become known, just not so soon. He was sort of hoping that he was going to tell his friends instead not in the form of a rumor.

"Well, I heard it from Taurus, who heard it from Capricorn, who heard it from Cancer at his salon, who heard it from Virgo. I don't know how far it's gone. So tell me, have you finally made a move on Aries and hooked up with her?"

"What? No! She needed a place to stay and I provided it," Loke claimed.

"I see, so you're just helping your best friend," Aquarius said.

"Yes, thank you for understanding," Loke said.

"The best friend that you have been hopelessly in love with since high school," Aquarius continued from her last statement. "And I bet been wanting to have s-" she was cut short.

"Watch what you're saying Aquarius, think of your baby," Loke dramatically said.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Think you can handle yourself? I mean it's one thing to control your feelings when you see a person every so often, but when you live with them… That's gotta be tough."

"I can handle myself," Loke deadpanned, "You have nothing to worry about. Now, if you excuse me, I have work to do."

"Sure, sure… I'll be going now

That was also not the last time he was confronted about the matter, it happened all through out work.


"Good night, Aries," Loke brushed her pink bangs out of her face.


Loke was the first to wake up, "My alarm hasn't gone off… I can go back to sleep…" he turned to his other side and he had forgotten what was there. "Too close… Just gotta… Turn…"

"Hmmm? Something wrong," Aries groggily asked and let out a yawn.

"No I-" his alarm went off, "gotta get ready for work!" He tossed the covers, got out of the bed, and hurried for the alarm clock to turn it off. "Go back to sleep, Aries," he pulled the covers back up over her and quickly ran his hand through her bedhead before walking out of the room with a towel.

However, Aries could not get back to sleep no matter how hard she tried, between her internal clock and yesterday's unexpected nap. So she just got up and walked to her own room. "Maybe I should just get ready for the day… But Leo is in the shower right now." So she could not get dressed yet.

She heard the shower stop and eventually one door open and another close. Gathering everything she would need for a shower and quickly stopped by Loke's bedroom door to ask, "Are you done with the restroom?"

"Yeah, all your's." Loke answered through the door.

With that answer Aries showered, got dressed, and ready for the day. However, she was not expecting to see Loke in the living room in casual clothes when she walked out of the restroom. "Leo? I thought you had work."

"Got a text about half an hour ago saying I didn't need to go in today. When all of the apartments are filled, there isn't as much need for help filling out the paperwork and yesterday's inspection went really well yesterday," Loke explained while stretching his arms above his head. "Anyways, I thought you were going to sleep in."

"No, I can't sleep in very late. I'm too used to working," Aries said. Even when she had her old job, she could not sleep in more than an hour on her days off. "Maybe I should start looking for a new job…" she mused, if she was going to be awake during the day, her time should be spent wisely. Also, Aries wanted to be able to help with the bills as soon as possible and save money if anything urgent happened.

"If you're ready to go back to work, I can help you update your résumé," Loke offered. "But let's talk about work later. I know a restaurant that has a good breakfast menu that we can go to. Are you hungry right now?"

"I could eat," she responded and remembered Loke's near empty refrigerator. "Leo, when was the last time you went grocery shopping?"

"Uh…" Loke's brows furrowed as he thought about it and could not remember. He had mostly been eating out or take-out food. "Go get your coat so we can go eat. We can take care of the groceries on our way back," he nervously laughed as he nudged Aries to go get her coat.

"Okay, Leo, we'll take care of it later."

"Oh, by the way, the others want to see you tonight since it's been a while since so many of us been together. With you, Scorpio, Gemi, and Mini moving in." Loke put his hands in the pockets of his jacket.

"That sounds fun," Aries said as she put her arms through the sleeves of her coat.

"Great! Now let's go get some food," Loke opened the door and waited for Aries before locking the door behind him.

Woo hoo! Another chapter done! I go back to school soon, so I don't know how often I'll be able to update chapters. Best wishes to all of you.