Octavian wasn't sure if the moving had been the best idea.

Let's put some context into this.

The young man had been ecstatic when he had gotten the job offer in New York. It would a great- well, not exactly a great start but a new one, away from the annoying and suffocating shadow of his parents' success, plus the comments of people in his social circle- well, his parents' one, but he was instantly added to them and he hated that even more.

So, without a warning to his dearest mother and father, he packed up his things and left on the first available plane to the 'city where dreams are made of', as cliche as that sounds. He had given instructions to his parents' housekeeper to send his things as soon as he find a place to stay.

The only flaw of his plan?

He didn't have one.

Luckily for him, passing by a small café gave him the answer, seeing a sign sticking on the door about new apartments being rented. And Octavian didn't think it twice before calling to the owner and asking for a showing. Meanwhile, he got himself a hotel room for the night, completely sure he was going to get the apartment.

The apartment he was shown was on the seventh floor, which had a lot of natural light and, according to the owner, a man on a wheeled chair dressed in tweed by the name of Chiron, musical and artistic neighbours- at least, in that floor. Chiron admitted that the building was full of young people of all disciplines, so he shouldn't be surprised about finding someone new every time he walked in.

That should have been Octavian's first warning that he might not like the apartment but he ignored it with the reasoning he would be working in an office all day long. He immediately signed the lease and moved that same afternoon before heading to his work's office and introducing himself to his boss, a fierce woman by the name of Lupa that was making you tremble only by raising an eyebrow.

Octavian's second warning came in the vision of the apartment's monthly meeting. Raised by two business people, it was in his nature to be organized and direct, and maybe a little bit intimidating. However, he wasn't prepared to find the explosion of colour and randomness that were his neighbours. Especially, that redheaded girl that introduced herself as Rachel, the resident painter.

If there was one word that Octavian used in his head when he first saw her was chaotic. The girl that couldn't be older than him was wearing jeans and a T-shirt splashed with different paint colours, some spots looking more dried than others, sneakers that at some point were white-coloured but now were covered in doodles, and her curly hair held up in a bun with... was that a paintbrush?

Octavian tried to nod at the right times while the meeting was taking place. His only desire was to be back in his apartment and sleep all afternoon. But his small plan was frustrated when the previously introduced chaos walked up to him with a dazzling smile.

"Hello, there! You must be new!" Octavian was thankful that her voice was not the nasal type nor too high pitched, otherwise he would have visibly cringed. "I'm Rachel, I live in the seventh floor, you?" She pulled out her hand for him to shake. Despite not finding this girl of his liking, Octavian pulled out his hand and shook it, wanting to be out of there as soon as possible.

"Octavian, also seventh floor."

"Oh wow! You moved to Lee's old apartment!" The young woman said to him, opening her green eyes even bigger. "That's amazing! You know, Lee used to play the guitar and the other would just simply follow him and improvise, but I don't think that would be your case- anyway, I'm making a meal in a couple of weekends and you're invited!"

Octavian blinked a few minutes. He was impressed by the girl's ability of breathing while talking too much, too fast. Add some music and she could be rapping. Definitely, his polar opposite.

"I don't think is a good idea. I'm not sure when my things will arrive and I have to get accustomed to my new job."

"Oh." Octavian had to give points to the girl for understanding his not so subtle indirect to her invitation. "Yes, yes of course!" She added with enthusiasm. "I forgot what's like to be on your own in a new city..." The girl smiled at him before walking backwards and waving at him. "Nice to meet you, neighbour! Hope to see you around!"

Octavian sighed in relief as he saw her leaving with a group of girls, all talking as animatedly as she was minutes before. He briefly wondered if he had been too rude but pushed it away immediately.

It wasn't until the country was officially in lockdown that Octavian wondered if he was being punished.

Octavian has latest only one week on the job before he- and everyone else, by the way -were moved to home office.

Lupa had insisted it was for their own safety and that it wouldn't last for more than two weeks... but that didn't happen. The government had decided that all non-essential workers would keep doing home office until the situation was resolved and while Octavian was by no means reclusive, it was exasperating.

Especially, the situation that was generated because of it.

To avoid the risk of contagiousness, the owner of the building and his neighbours had decided that one person would be in charge of doing the shopping once a week per floor in the next neighbour's meeting. Everyone immediately volunteered, with a couple of exceptions- him included. He could do his own groceries-

"Hello, neighbour!" Octavian sighed and turned to his left where he found- face covered, of course -his chaotic neighbour, Rachel. He could tell she was smiling by the way her eyes wrinkled at the edge.

"Good afternoon." He replied, trying to be polite yet not engaging.

"Got sent to do home office? I noticed that you didn't raise your hand, I assume you have an office job...?" Octavian raised an eyebrow but kept his opinion that she was being particularly noisy within.

"Exactly."

"Where do you work at?"

"At a private company."

"Oh!" Her eyes opened wide and Octavian couldn't help but compare them with a doe. "Anyway, I was hoping you could give me the list of things you need for the week and I'll get them- not that you can't pay for them! You will pay me back later, of course!" She hurried to say.

"Look, I don't think-" Octavian stopped mid-sentence. What was actually motivating him to go out? He had always been an independent person, someone who didn't depend on others. But this time it wasn't just about him, but the nation's health. He would most probably start arguing with everyone that cough in his direction and he thought of more productive things to do with his time.

"It's alright if you don't want to! A good excuse to go out and stretch the legs-"

"Actually, I think I'll take your offer for now- just, don't get used to it." He quickly added, seeing her eyes widen in surprise.

"Of course! Yeah, don't worry!" She cheerfully replied. Octavian nodded at her. "Should I pass by tomorrow to get the list?"

"That would be the plan." Octavian agreed, nodding his head.

"Great! See you tomorrow!" She had greeted him goodbye before talking to some other residents of the building.

Tomorrow came by and Octavian had attached a list of things he needed on his front door, avoiding the need for someone to even knock on it. He worked until it was lunchtime, before resuming for a couple of hours and taking a shower. It was when he was getting done from the last one that she heard the door getting knocked.

"One minute!" He shouted, quickly throwing on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. He unconsciously opened the door, only to find his chaotic neighbour on the other side. "Good evening...?"

"Hello! Oh, you're an antimask... cool, cool..." Her voice was slightly flat and it was a high contrast with her animated one.

"Just came out of the shower. Besides, I'm on my own bubble." He justified himself, though part of his was thinking why he was giving explanations to her. Her eyes opened slightly and Octavian swears he saw her mouth form an O behind her mask.

"Right, right! Of course! Why would you need the mask when you haven't gone out and it's, um, more than obvious that you just showered..." She trailed her words a little. Octavian swore her eyes wandered around him- but he couldn't be sure, as she shook her head before continuing talking. "I saw the list on the door, very smart of you I must add!"

"Didn't want to disturb my work." Even Octavian internally cringed at how jerky that came out but Rachel didn't seem upset.

"I figured, don't worry!" She then handed him some bags full of groceries. "You may want to disinfect them- although, I already did it for you... but, since they were in my apartment, you know..." Octavian took the bags and grabbed his wallet to pay for them and gave her the money. "This is too much, Octavian!" She immediately returned him money, leaving him confused.

"Did I miscalculate? How much was it?"

"Oh, um... Like 50 dollars." Octavian frowned and looked at the things he had ordered. That wasn't 50 dollars, he was sure of it as he had checked the prices on the local supermarket online to know exactly how much of his budget he was spending.

"Did you go to a wholesale?" He deduced before seeing her face going from red to normal on the span of a second.

"Yeah, right..." She said, not sounding convinced at all. "Yeah, I went to a wholesale- wanted to make sure your money was getting what it supposed and not the rip-off prices everyone is elevating because of the lockdown... plus, quantity is what we need, there are like 13 floors here and, you know..."

"That's smart thinking, well done." The compliment made her blush.

"Um, thanks... so, I'll come back next Thursday in case you need something- or just leave the list on the door, I'll try to come back by this time that I know you aren't working."

"That'd be appreciated it."

"Well... I guess I'll see you next week?"

"See you next week."

Soon, a routine was established for the following four months.

Octavian would leave his list on his door and Rachel- who apparently had taken over the role of the shopper of the floor -would come around dinner time with his delivery, try to engage a conversation with him before leaving him alone inside his apartment. Some of those days weren't even conversations as Octavian was still on a call and he would shut her up by a sign of his fingers.

While he had acknowledged to himself that the redheaded was annoying, at this point, she was a necessary evil. He could tolerate his chit-chatting for some minutes before excusing himself back into the silence of his loneliness. She was just... very loud in everything she did.

Until one afternoon, she didn't show up.

At the usual time, Octavian was finishing some dinner when he heard the knock on his door. And when he opened it, he was surprised to find a blond young man, wearing a face mask that didn't hide his sky blue eyes.

"Excuse me, are you Octavian?"

"That's me." He nodded, raising an eyebrow. "And you are?" He held the need to ask where was his regular deliverer but held his tongue.

"My name is Will, I live down the hallway. I came to deliver your stuff." He introduced himself before handing him the bags.

"Thank you." Octavian thanked him, grabbing his wallet afterwards. "It was 65, right?" He began counting the bills.

"Actually, it's 95 with 50." Octavian's hands stopped moving while he raised his head towards Will. He must be joking. "Plus taxes. Actually, here's the ticket." He handed him the ticket with all his purchases. Octavian could see the logo of a supermarket on top and slowly began to draw conclusions.

"I see." He sighed and pulled out the exact amount- who has loose change nowadays? Apparently, only him -and gave it to Will. "You should buy at a wholesale next time, would save all of us quite amount of money." He casually mentioned, trying not to sound irritated by the extra money he spent.

"That actually sounds like a good idea." Will praised him while Octavian frowned more in confusion. "I'll ask Percy- he lives on the third floor, by the way -and has a car, that would help us. Do you know any close by?"

"You should ask Rachel, she told me she goes to one." This time, it was Will who frowned at his words.

"Rachel? Why would- oh. Oh!" His eyes suddenly went big and Octavian didn't know what facial expression he was doing under his face mask. "Right, I had forgotten about it! That's our nice Rachel! Well, I have to go get my boyfriend his stuff and he lives on the thirteenth floor, so... bye-bye!" Will waved at him and walked away. "Oh! And Rachel is sick! You should visit her when you can!" He shouted before disappearing, leaving a confused Octavian behind.

Octavian was torn.

Another week has passed and Rachel kept being sick- at least that's what Will had told him when he delivered his stuff again, adding a 'Thanks so much for the wholesale tip! We're getting food for a fraction of the cost! You wouldn't have coupons laying around, would you? We're aiming to see if we can get it for free! Oh, and Rachel is still sick, haven't you gone see her yet?'.

So, yes. Octavian was conflicted.

Admittedly, he didn't want to invade someone's personal space- he hated when someone did it to him -, but also he felt awkward when thinking about it. He barely knew the girl and didn't interact much with her. Yet, he missed her when she didn't deliver his stuff for two weeks- it wasn't that long to miss someone you only see once a week... or was it?

Groaning, he rubbed his face and looked around. He barely had gone out his apartment walls in the last four months, so he was going a bit insane. It was in one of these moments of insanity that he grabbed his keys, his face mask and left his apartment, heading towards the redheaded's one. While he never had gone there, she had cheerfully pointed it out for him, so he knew which one was.

It was only after knocking on the door and hearing a muffled 'One minute!' that Octavian regained his senses and wanted to bolt out of the place his feet were rooted on. The door was fully opened before a gasp and a slam was heard. The slam snapped him out of his thoughts and focused on the green eyes that were peeking out the slit of the now slightly opened door.

"O- Octavian?" Rachel whispered. "Wha- what are you doing here?"

"I, um..." Octavian felt as awkward as he sounded. He had never done this before. "Will said you were sick and since I had some free time, I wanted to return the favour you've done the last four months." While he didn't quite know what had prompted him to march to the redheaded's apartment, that excuse wasn't exactly lame. Or so he thought.

"Oh." That was the reply he got and Octavian seriously wanted to face-palm himself. That was pathetic, even for a social recluse like him. "That's very thoughtful of you..."

"Do you need any medicine?" The redheaded just shook her head gently.

"Just some fever and headaches- don't worry, I took the test as soon as I felt ill and told me it was negative... still, I'm taking another one in a few days, you know how this virus can show symptoms after 20 days."

"Good call." He complimented her, seeing some blush on her cheeks. "Still, if you need anything, don't hesitate to call me." He handed her his number.

"Of course. Thanks for coming back, it was really thoughtful of you."

"It's- it's no problem, really." He stood there a little awkwardly before deciding it was enough embarrassing for one day. "I really hope you get better. I'll see you, I guess."

"Yeah, see you..." Rachel waved at him before closing the door gently.

Octavian stared at the door a few more seconds before going back to his apartment, a small sufficient smile adorning his face.

Meanwhile, in her own apartment, Rachel was doing everything she could to not squeal loud.

"He came to see me..." A dreamy and flustered smile appeared on her before grabbing her phone and engaging in a video call with her friends. "Guys! You won't believe what happened!"

"Let me guess, the 'hottie' of Lee's old apartment went to visit you and offered his oh-so-galant help!" Piper's sarcastic voice tone could be heard but not her face, which meant she was studying for her upcoming exam, missing entirely her friend's pouty face.

"I hate this game now..."

"By the Gods, that actually happened?" Annabeth immediately paid attention, dropping her book and making Piper actually pay attention to the screen. "You're saying the reclusive from 7D actually went to see you?"

"And I have his phone number!" She squealed a little before groaning. She still had a headache.

"That's patience, girl... But, good for you!" Piper praised her, smiling. "He needs to know that if he breaks your heart, Annabeth and I will kill him." Annabeth nodded at that statement, making their friend smile at their protectiveness.

"Soon... I hope soon..."

Good morning/afternoon/evening, everyone...

I hope you like this update, it was done as a present for my bestie writer AgentofAngst! Everyone, say Happy B-Day, AgentofAngst!

Anyway, I hope I can come back soon to writing- not fully since my job increased along with my school work -, but I want to write more periodically and such. I hope I can find inspiration and time to do so- if not what's left of this year, next one for sure!

I hope you all are having a great Sunday- or what's left of it! Remember, wear the mask, keep your distance and wash your hands! And get vaccinated if you can!

xoxo, SilverHuntresses