AN: I'm going to stop apologizing :( I know I am TERRIBLE at updating in a timely fashion, and I know this chapter is short, but it is very late right now, and a short chapter HOPEFULLY means there will soon be more. Enjoy :) and please R&R!

Chapter 11

Sage didn't see much of her new roommate for the next two days. She still stayed in his lavish apartments, but spent her hours up top, as there was really nothing else for her to do. She went to bed alone, but he was always there in the morning. He rarely spoke to her, unless to tease her lightly, but mostly he got up, collected his clothes and showered promptly, leaving little time for conversation. In these brief times when they were together in the room, it was strangely awkward, like they had taken a step back, and Sage couldn't help but feel responsible.

They hadn't exactly been best friends before, but when they spoke it wasn't unpleasant-for the most part. But now, it was as if he was too upset with her behavior towards him. She had been rather rude, openly showing her disgust at the thought of any sort of intimacy between them, his unkind comments aside.

The third morning of their co-habitation, as she discreetly watched him gather his things in silence and leave, she felt this guilt strongly, and decided something, despite her occasional distaste towards the man. If they were going to live together, she needed to make it right.

She thought about how to go about it all day, trying to find the least awkward way to broach the topic, and then somehow apologize without sounding like a ninny, or a child. Her absent-mindedness affected her performance of her tasks at the bar-front, and she was sent back down earlier than usual with her wrists hypothetically slapped.

Now, she sat on the plush bed for about an hour, trying to come up with a way to go about this, but came up with almost nothing. Taking a deep breath and huffing it out, she ran a hand through her tawny locks and decided she would just wing it, and bring it up when he came in tonight, however late that might be.

Several hours later, after a shower, a meal and brushing her hair a thousand times, he still wasn't in. She had no way of knowing what time it was, but her eyes were beginning to droop and yawns were slipping out every few minutes. Frustration and discouragement tugged at her. It was so awkward to live here with him in the first place, and then she had to act like that and chase him away. She gnawed on her bottom lip and played with her split ends, thinking about him.

He wasn't really UN kind to her, just gruff and no-nonsense at times. He had provided clothes for her, and hadn't taken back his shirt. She mostly wore it to sleep in. She glanced around the beautiful room again, her gaze lingering on the guilt frames and the intricate carpets. She never imagined she would stay in a place like this. She didn't even know things like this existed before stumbling into his room that night.

Her thoughts took her back to that day, it seemed an age ago, when she had conjured up that list of needs. There was the proper food column: check. She now ate decent food for three square meals a day. The proper shelter column: check. Looking at the beautiful room, she made that a double triple check. The social column: check-ish. Roa was a friend, Martel still resented her, Dorchette messed with her a lot-in good fun usually, and there were others whom she joked with and who made her smile. Greed...she still didn't know. Was he her friend? He had insisted they were friends from day one, but that wasn't what made one a friend. Still, he had a way about him that made her want to be his friend… Sage shook her head to clear it, her thoughts were straying. The love column was the last one, and that one was empty, but seemed utterly absurd to her at the moment. That didn't stop a face from slipping into her mind at the thought of that column, a handsome face with red eyes and a sharp grin.

She snorted at herself and forced the face from her mind, refusing to give it anymore merit. He was attractive, but that was all, and the only reason he might have appeared in that line of thought.

Another yawn forced its way up her throat, and she decided that as much as she wanted his smile and laugh again, she couldn't wait any more, and was soon asleep.

Sage awoke several hours later to a shifting in the mattress and the covers being pulled slightly. She stirred and rolled over to face the man who had joined her. He glanced at her and muttered an apology for waking her. She wanted to reply, but the memory of what she planned to say came back to her and she suddenly felt shy, her heart pounding as she tried to find the words. He was sitting up still, removing his shirt and leather cuffs tiredly. She just watched him, still mustering her courage. He ran the tattooed had through his hair and breathed deeply. As he rubbed his eyes, he caught her looking at him from where she lay.

"What is it?" he sounded slightly irritated. "Do I smell? Want me to put my shirt back on? Sorry but it ain't happenin' sister. If you're gonna be sleeping here you can just-"

"No, no it's none of that, there's no problem." She finally said. He paused and looked at her. Her voice held no bite or anger. He had never heard her talk like this. She sounded tired and sort of sad.

"I've...I've been thinking. About my behavior." she started. "I'm…." she took a deep breath, "I'm sorry I've been such a bitch. I mean, not like you're a gentleman or anything"-he scoffed-"BUT….I know that I'm...well I'm better off here than I ever was before, and not that I prefer captivity, because I don't-"

He cocked an eyebrow at her and interrupted. "Is this going to go on for that much longer? Because I'm tired as hell and I'd like to get some sleep."

She glared mildly at him and he saw her jaw tense up a little. Good. He didn't want to make this too easy.

"I just wanted to apologize. I know we are 'friends'", she made the quote marks with her fingers, "and I was kind of mean. I'm sorry." she finally finished. She felt her face burning and hoped to God he couldn't see it. He didn't say anything for a minute, just looked at her.

Then he smirked and said "Wow, this must have really been eating you up inside, because you look like shit."

She punched him hard in the shoulder and rolled over with a huff, he barked a laugh and said "Apology accepted."

Vaguely she wondered if it would have been better to keep silent.

Sage woke up on her own for once, instead of to the sound of Greed waking up, her forehead pressed against something warm and firm. Blinking and sighing blearily, she came to the realization that it was Greed's bare back, and she had her face pressed between his shoulder blades. A jolt went through her, but she didn't jerk away this time. She didn't even move. She smiled a little, despite herself, and just lay there, appreciating the fact that she wasn't alone.

Funny, she had always wondered what his skin felt like, smelled like. It was warm and smooth, and he smelled...like a man. She didn't know enough about men's scents to place them exactly, but it was sort of spicy. Not bad.

Sleep still tugged at her eyes, and as she didn't have any real obligations today, she shifted a bit closer to her bed-mate, let it take her.

Greed was usually an early riser. He didn't need an alarm clock, he usually just woke up. Today was no different, except for the fact that the woman next to him was not firmly on her side, as usual. She was definitely on his side of the bed, her forehead resting against his back. Interesting.

Her guilty confession last night had surprised him, to be sure. He had decided to just leave her alone and give her time, but this was good. Very good. Maybe she wasn't so unwilling after all. Not that he wanted to sleep with her-any time soon-but it was really a drag to have such a downer for a roommate. Maybe now she'd cheer up. Maybe she'd even smile or laugh, and he could continue with finding out what he wanted from her and why.

He heard her shift and sigh, and knew she'd be waking up now and tearing herself away with a shriek as usual, when she found herself in such a situation, and he felt a twinge of annoyance. Her breath caught, he braced for it...but she simply continued breathing, she didn't move away or anything, and he knew she was awake, because he felt her eyelashes tickle his back when she blinked. After a moment, she sighed once more, edged closer to him, and went back to sleep.

Go figure, he smirked.