She was banging again.

He could hear it. Every night Flynn's neighbor would start banging on the wall, a wall in which his bed lay beside. He'd hear grunts and huffs of frustration and after ten minutes Flynn would start banging back.

But tonight he'd had enough.

It had been a long day of work, having lunch with his girlfriend's mother who clearly hated him, and on top of that, Rapunzel had just left for Germany to visit her grandparents for a year. One whole year. Flynn's definitely had better days.

He heard the thump of another hit to the wall he felt his eye twitch in irritation.

"Oh for fuck's sake, would you SHUT UP!" He screamed at his wall. The one second of silence was a tease as Flynn laid his head back down, believing he had silenced this irritation.

"Why don't yew shut up!" His neighbor shouted back, her voice muffled and huffy. Groaning, Flynn sat up on his bed. The accent threw him off, the sound of her voice rang strong and defiant. He's never seen her, never heard her talk. His moment of silence was a mistake. Once again, she started the banging.

Growling, Flynn cradled his head in his hands. "You do this every night! Go the hell to sleep!"

"I can do whatever I want in MY APARTMENT!" she shouted, her accent thickly coating her own irritation.

"Glad you feel that way!" Flynn huffed, mockingly mimicking her Scottish accent,"I'd like to fucking SLEEP IN MY APARTMENT!"

"Awww the wee lamb can't catch a wink now can he?"

"You little-!"

"Bet ya wish ya would've sodded off to a different apartment now huh?! Bet ya wish ya had the common sense to switch rooms!"

"What are you, twelve?!" Flynn snapped, throwing off his covers and standing up to face his wall. His eye twitched again and he clenched his fist scowling. He just wanted some sleep for once. Some peace and quiet. was that too much to ask?

"I'm sixteen, thank ya very much!"

"Sixteen?!" Flynn paused. He unclenched his fist and for a moment held himself in confusion "...What the hell is a sixteen-year-old doing in an apartment by herself?"

There was no response for a long minute. Flynn found himself shuffling closer to the wall. He put his ear to it, hearing nothing but an awkward shuffling. "Havin grand time...," she finally mumbled.

He kept his ear to the wall. She wasn't making any noise. He was so sure that if he left things like this and got back into bed, she wouldn't make noise for the rest pf the night. Sixteen she said... "Where are your parents?"

There was silence for a moment,"Nowhere fer miles."

Sixteen, living in an apartment by herself. Part of him wanted to just tell her to stop making noise before he called the police. He could hear that annoying (but loving) voice of his girl, telling him otherwise. Rapunzel had a soft spot for children whereas Flynn didn't. Sixteen... Flynn didn't really live in the best area. There were drive-by shootings and break-ins all the time. He could handle himself in such situations. He could imagine how scary that would be for a teenager. Flynn scowled, running a tired hand over his face. He walked out of his apartment, wrapping his arms around himself to fight the cold. He turned to face her door when he noticed a faded lease sign in front of it. It took him to minutes to figure out what was going on.

He knocked on the door.

"Kid? Open up."

There was shuffling and instead of the door opening, the window slide open. Flynn yelped, jumping back.

She was tiny, her red hair wild and knotted. Flynn spotted the dark circles beneath her eyes, standing out against her ghostly pale skin. She scowled, permanent lines creasing her forehead.

"What?" she snapped, rubbing her arms.

Flynn cleared his throat, debating his options.

"What's your name, kid?"

She eyed him suspiciously. He could see her analyzing him, debating whether or not she could trust him. "Merida," she croaked slowly. Nodding, Flynn sighed, shifting on his feet.

"Did you break in?" He asked, nodding his head towards "her" apartment. Merida didn't move. "Look...," Flynn grumbled. "I'm tired. You're tired. It's cold and you've clearly broken into an empty apartment." He huffed, shaking his head. Turning, he motioned to her, "Come on, I'll heat up some hot chocolate for you."

"I don't need yer help." She mumbled stubbornly. Flynn shrugged, grabbing the handle to his door.

"Suit yourself." He may not like children, but he knew just how to handle kids like her. Walking in his apartment, he made sure the door remained unlocked as he headed into the kitchen. He grumbled to himself, blaming Rapunzel for his soft heart as he picked up his phone to text her. She was probably fast asleep, but he still opened the thread and typed in Your fault I'm up at two in the morning. I love you. Smiling to himself, he got out a saucepan and poured in some milk to heat up.

Ten minutes later, he heard the door creak open, just as the warm aroma started to fill the room.

"There she is," Flynn welcomed, focused on dressing up his creation. He prepared his cocoa in a special way. Hot chocolate with mini marshmallows, a generous scoop of ice cream, Oreos sticking out, drizzled with caramel and chocolate fudge, topped with whipped cream and a cherry. He shook the whipped cream spray and glanced over at the girl. She had a bow slung over her shoulder and arrows in a bag. She held a clear plastic bag with extra clothing. She was wearing faded jeans and T-shirt that did not look warm at all.

"Woah," Flynn halted her, giving her a once over."Why the bow?"

"The drive-bys." She stated simply.

"Is that why I hear-"

"Gotta practice. Gotta stay awake."

Damn.

She sighed and dropped her stuff on his couch, plopping herself down.

"Ya make yourself comfortable," Flynn grumbled. Merida smiled and leaned back, placing her feet on his coffee table. "Not that comfortable." He scolded, "Take your feet off my table, that is mahogany." The girl rolled her eyes with a huff and took her feet off. Flynn walked over with two drinks in his hands and place hers in front of her. He watched as she snatched it and began excitingly licking off the whipped cream. Flynn quietly drank his own hot chocolate, leaning against the wall and pondering on what to do with this newly found creature. She downed the hot chocolate quickly, wiping her mouth with her arm.

"How long have you lived by yourself?" asked Flynn. Merida shrugged.

"Couple months."

"Did you run away?"

Merida avoided his eyes, looking around his room. "That doesn't matter. They're in a different country anyway."

Flynn grimaced and set down his drink.

"Ya okay... okay," he sighed. Geez, this was awkward. He watched as she yawned, shivering. He inwardly groaned and rubbed the back of his neck. Sighing he threw his head back. Darn you, compassion.

"There's a bathroom right over there," he said, pointing down his mini hall. "The bedroom is to the right and there are extra blankets in the closet."

"I don't need-,"

"Bullshit. Go take a shower," He walked over to where he kept his towels and tossed a clean one at her. "You can sleep in my bed tonight. I'll take the couch." Merida didn't move for a second, holding the towel in her hand. "Go on," Flynn motioned for her to get up. She slowly collected her things and walked over to the bathroom, closing the door. He heard the water turn on and wondered how long it's been since she's had a shower. He grumbled as he gathered up some extra blankets and settled himself on the couch. He checked his messages and smiled when he saw Rapunzel had replied back. I miss you too, honey. I love you more! Sweet dreams

He was already snoring when Merida stepped out of the shower wearing the only pajamas she had. She hadn't planned on coming here or actually staying. The temptations of a warm bed and plumbing were too much. She smiled and walked over to the front door, double checking it was locked before heading over to Flynn's bed. Bundling herself up in blankets, Merida relished the heat. For the first night in months, she fell asleep, lulled by the intense snoring in the other room, feeling safe knowing she wasn't alone.