Ritchie woke up the following morning with a migraine already setting in. Groaning in pain, she turned restlessly in her bed. It didn't take her long to realise that she wasn't alone. Oh yeah, it was one of those mornings again… Maybe she was a slut after all.

She reluctantly opened her eyes. Izaya was sound asleep next to her, breathing heavily, a slight frown creasing his forehead. Ritchie would have been interested to see the information broker at his most vulnerable stage if she hadn't felt like she was nursing the hangover from hell.

Sighing, she rolled over onto her front and buried her painful head in the pillow. Hangovers she could deal with. Hangovers she tended to deserve. Migraines just weren't at all fair. If only she could just get back to sleep…

"I'd watch you don't suffocate yourself if I were you, Ritchie-chan. That would be a real shame."

Oh great, Izaya was awake. Ritchie reluctantly rolled back to face him, squinting in the light that was starting to pour into the room from between the blinds. "Right now that'd probably be a blessing."

"Oh don't be like that. Are you telling me you regret last night?" Izaya put on his best hurt voice.

"No. I'm regretting waking up," replied Ritchie, kneading her forehead with her fists in the hope that it would help.

"Well that's no good, Ritchie-chan," said Izaya brightly as he sat up. "Aren't you supposed to live life to the fullest and all that?"

"Just stop talking," moaned Ritchie, now pressing her palms over her eyes. Why was it such a challenge for Izaya to be quiet? Next thing she knew he was pulling her hands away from her face. "For fuck's sake, what do you want from me?"

"I want you to entertain me," said Izaya simply, like it was obvious.

"Well I don't want to entertain you," said Ritchie shortly. "Leave me alone."

"Come on Ritchie-chan, don't be boring," complained Izaya, still tugging on her hands.

"Go away!" said Ritchie more loudly, pulling her hands away. She realised that they were acting like a pair of children but she didn't really care right now.

"Why don't you want to play?" asked Izaya, back to his mock hurt voice.

"I have a migraine," replied Ritchie exasperatedly. It wasn't like she was purposely being awkward.

"You don't feel well?" There was suddenly a hand against her forehead. Izaya didn't look particularly concerned though – he seemed disappointed more than anything.

"I am only human," said Ritchie sarcastically. She didn't care that he wasn't concerned. His cool hand still felt good against her throbbing head. She closed her eyes and put her hand over his as he went to pull away. "Don't… That feels good."

Izaya sighed. "You're so boring, Ritchie-chan."

"Yes, I'm so sorry that my feeling like shit inconveniences you," said Ritchie testily.

"Well what am I supposed to do while you're in bed feeling sorry for yourself?" Izaya complained.

"You're a big boy. Entertain yourself," said Ritchie grumpily as Izaya pulled his hand away. "I don't really care what you do; just let me go back to sleep."

She knew that she was effectively giving Izaya consent to stay in her apartment and do whatever he liked. Quite a scary thought… But right now she genuinely didn't care. All she wanted was to go back to sleep. And that was exactly what she was going to do.

She did manage to fall asleep and when she woke up again she was relieved to find that her headache had finally gone. And so, it seemed, had Izaya. Her apartment was completely silent. He'd obviously grown too bored and left.

It had gotten dark whilst Ritchie had been sleeping. She frowned. What time was it? She climbed out of bed and managed to locate her phone on the floor amongst the clothes she'd discarded last night.

Shit! It was almost eight o'clock. She hadn't imagined that she'd sleep for so long! She had just over an hour to shower, get ready and get to work on time.

Ritchie was generally pretty good at getting ready quickly. But getting ready for work always took longer than getting ready just to go out and play with Izaya. She normally didn't care too much about her appearance – only ever her outfit – but for work she had a certain image to keep up. Her job was effectively to be looked at after all.

So she had her usual speedy shower, blow-dried her hair afterwards and actually took some care in taming it once it was dry. She still didn't bother with make-up – she'd never used it in her life. She didn't really understand it. Girls wore make-up to make themselves look pretty. Did that mean they weren't pretty without? Ritchie liked to think that with her that wasn't the case.

After pretty much taking a second shower in her Diesel perfume she put on one of her favourite strappy black tops – the kind that left little to the imagination – along with a red micro skirt that wasn't really worth wearing and her sparkly Gina stilettos. She was good to go.

It was creeping further into Autumn and starting to get colder. This annoyed Ritchie, who despised cold weather. She didn't really have any warm clothing – in her mind warm wasn't flattering – and didn't even own a coat or jacket. She maintained that she'd drop dead before spending money on something that covered so much skin.

She quickened her pace. She'd have to start getting taxis to and from work again when it got even colder. The thought of wasting a good chunk of her wages on transport made her feel grumpy but it was better than the alternative of walking in the cold. And she still refused to buy a coat.

She didn't realise she was being followed until the person was right behind her. She whirled around just as they seized her hand. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who it was.

"What are you doing? Don't sneak up on me like that," griped Ritchie, pulling her hand away.

"You shouldn't be out if you're ill, Ritchie-chan." Izaya tutted theatrically, grabbing her hand again. "Or are you feeling better now?"

"I slept it off. But I can't play now; I'm going to work," replied Ritchie shortly, pulling her hand from his grasp a second time.

"That's okay. I'll come with you," said Izaya brightly, undeterred and trying to catch Ritchie's hand again.

"What exactly are you trying to do?" asked Ritchie. His incessant attempts to grab her hand were bothering her.

"Hold your hand. Isn't that what couples do?" said Izaya with what may have been an innocent look if it had been on the face of anybody else.

Ritchie stopped dead in her tracks so that Izaya almost bumped into her. "Excuse me?" She glared at him. "We are not a couple."

"That's a bit harsh, Ritchie-chan. You're going to hurt my feelings rejecting me so coldly like that," said Izaya, pretending to pout.

Ritchie continued to glare at him. "You don't have feelings."

"There we go. You're breaking my heart, Ritchie-chan," mocked Izaya, playfully clutching his chest.

Ritchie rolled her eyes and turned away to continue on her course. "Grow up." But he grabbed her hand for what felt like the millionth time and pulled her to a stop again. "What now?"

"Don't you want to go out with me, Ritchie-chan?" asked Izaya with a look of mock sorrow.

"I'd rather bang Shizuo," replied Ritchie cuttingly.

She knew instantly that she shouldn't have said that. Izaya suddenly grabbed her by the chin and jerked her face up at a painful angle, forcing her to look him in the eye. All of his normal cheeriness had vanished.

"I'll pretend you didn't say that," he said dangerously, an angry glint in his eyes. "You should know that it'd be best for you if you played by my rules."

Ritchie probably should have been scared of him at this point. But it was too late – they'd broken that barrier last night. Though at the same time she wasn't stupid… She was definitely still wary of him. She knew that bringing his mortal enemy into it – even if she didn't really understand the dispute between the intel broker and the bartender – was a little below the belt, but she didn't feel much regret. She'd never really been one for playing it safe.

"What are you trying to pull? You don't want a relationship," Ritchie said accusingly. She knew it was true. There was a look in his eyes that showed he had some twisted, ulterior motive in this. Like he always did.

"Who says I'm trying to pull anything?" asked Izaya.

"It's you. You're always trying to pull something," Ritchie pointed out frankly.

"Well maybe it's something you don't need to know," said Izaya. When Ritchie just continued to glare at him he let go of her chin and his expression calmed, returning to his usual jovial manner. "So what do you say? Do you want to be my girlfriend?"

Every fibre of Ritchie's body seemed to be screaming at her to say no. That made sense. She didn't want Izaya to be her boyfriend. She didn't want a boyfriend, period. Relationships were a hassle that she hadn't found appealing in a long time – she preferred her freedom much more.

But Izaya had made it clear that it would potentially be worse for her to say no. And, worryingly, a small voice in the back of Ritchie's head – the same voice that had made her join Izaya on the rooftop the first day they'd met; that had encouraged her to run off with him on their second encounter; that had pushed her into some kind of fatal attraction with him – was telling her that she would never find a more interesting partner.

"Fine," said Ritchie grudgingly. She wasn't even going to comment on Izaya's use of the word 'want'. What she wanted didn't really seem to be in her hands anymore.

Izaya clapped his hands together, delighted. "Excellent! This'll be fun!"

"Yeah… Fun… That's exactly what I was thinking," said Ritchie, her voice heavy with sarcasm.

"There's no need to be rude, Ritchie-chan," replied Izaya, though as usual he didn't seem remotely offended. He ruffled her hair in a way that was more patronising than affectionate. "You should be happy!"

Ritchie gave him a murderous look. "Do that again and I'll break your fingers."

Izaya sighed. "So violent… Are you going to abuse me in this relationship, Ritchie-chan?"

"If I can get away with it," said Ritchie, only half joking.

"So you're not going to play the good little housewife?" Izaya grinned mockingly.

Ritchie snorted with laughter. "Housewife? You've got to be kidding."

"I'm only being realistic, Ritchie-chan. Isn't that supposed to be the social convention for women?" goaded Izaya, making to tousle her hair again.

Ritchie slapped his hand away. She knew he was being purposely sexist just to annoy her but that didn't mean that it wasn't working. "If you make any kind of 'woman in kitchen' joke then I swear…"

Izaya just laughed, cutting her off. "I wouldn't dream of it, Ritchie-chan. Besides, I have a feeling you'd be a terrible cook."

Ritchie glowered at him. "Like hell I am!"

"Well make up your mind, Ritchie-chan. You're either a bad cook or you belong in the kitchen. Your choices are pretty limited," said Izaya with an exaggerated shrug.

"I don't belong anywhere," said Ritchie hotly.

"You don't even think you belong with me?" asked Izaya innocently.

Ritchie raised her eyebrows. "Too cheesy. New choice."

"Where does this whole 'new choice' thing even come from?" Izaya enquired, amused.

Ritchie just sighed. This conversation was going on too long for her liking. "You're gonna make me late for work."

"How about you promise to tell me another time then?" suggested Izaya. He stepped aside and swept his arm out, gesturing that her path was clear.

"You're going to let me pass free of charge?" asked Ritchie sarcastically.

"For now," said Izaya simply, smirking like he knew something that Ritchie didn't – which was almost certain to be true.

"Right…" said Ritchie uncertainly. It sounded like something she'd end up paying for later. But, catch or no catch, she really did have to get going if she didn't want to be late. "I'll see you around then."

She continued on her way, glancing back over her shoulder. Izaya was still stood there with his hands in his pockets, watching her walk off. Damn… A boyfriend? The concept alone was horrifying enough – not to mention the fact that it was none other than Ikebukuro's notoriously sadistic information broker.

Ritchie sighed to herself. Now what had she gotten herself into…

XXX

Author's Note!

Kinda short chapter… But it would have dragged on for too long if I'd added on the next scene I have planned T_T

I'm thinking of doing some one-shot side stories to this too… I have quite a few ideas that aren't really a main part of my plotline so they'd look kinda random in the middle of future chapters. Thoughts on this? You reviewers are the best so I'd definitely like to get your opinions! =D

Thanks again for the continued support! Virtual cookies to whoever understands the repeated 'new choice' reference! 3