(Disclaimer: This story, plot, and its characters are all copyright and owned by me unless otherwise stated.)

Remember: Only you can prevent art and writing theft. Please don't be a jerk and steal. Or I'll hunt you down. And my machete hungers for the blood of evil thieves.


Chapter 6

"Johnson...Johnson...There are too many Johnson's in this freaking city." Ana groaned, tossing the telephone and phone book on the kitchen table. Haydren had gone to take a shower and she had spent the last fifteen minutes trying to find a number to reach Johnson at and get an explanation from him to what the hell was going on.

"How could he put me through this?" She muttered, leaving the kitchen and headed for the living room on the other side of the bar. With a miserable groan she fell on her back on the couch, covering her eyes in dismay. Janus sat in the chair near her, watching her curiously.

The door bell buzzed and Ana let out a pain filled sigh. Who the hell was at the door now? She tilted her head back to the look at the Doberman pleadingly. "You get it, Janus. I don't want another dog."

The dog panted, tail bobbing excitedly, but he didn't understand what she was saying. Begrudgingly, Ana got up from her couch and headed to answer the front door for the second time this morning. She dragged her feet as she went, hoping to all the Gods she could think of that it was not another dog.

She cracked the door open slowly to see who it was then let out a sigh of relief at the familiar face of her next door neighbor. "Laurie! It's great to see you!"

She paused and blinked when he held a bouquet of flowers out to her. It was full of all sorts of beautiful flowers. Carnations, hyacinths, and babies breath. He really was good with flowers. She supposed his mother being a florist had given him that talent.

Ana hadn't been completely truthfully with Mandy when she told her she didn't like anyone at school. Laurie was only a year older, a junior, but Ana had lived in the same apartment building with him since she was only a baby. She had know him for years and they'd become good friends. His mother came to check on her once a week, just to make sure she was doing alright. And Laurie occasionally brought over some food he'd cooked in a recipe for school.

Unlike her, he was training in culinary arts, so ever since she'd gotten her basics out of the way, she hadn't really seen too much of him except when they bumped into one another in the hall, or when he came up to see her. Which had actually been a while. He'd probably gotten busy.

"Mom said you didn't look so good when she saw you leaving yesterday and you weren't in school today...I wanted to come check on you. You know, make sure everything was alright..." He gave her a small smile that bad her socks melt and her toes curl. Laurie really was a sweetheart at the best of times.

"I'm alright. I just got suspended from school for two days..." She laughed nervously, taking the bundle of flowers and looking at them in admiration.

He whistled at that. "What for?"

"Uh! No reason really. I just...um..." Her cheeks flared a deeper red as she stumbled over her own words. Trying to find some way to explain the suspension to him without revealing the details. "I was talking in Henderson's class."

"You really need to be careful with Henderson. He expects a lot of you because you're so smart, but he'll fail you the first chance he gets, Ana." He looked around her as Janus padded into the foyer behind her. "Oh, you got a new dog."

Ana blushed and stepped aside a little as Janus went to Laurie. The 20 year old went on one knee, petting the dog on the head and offering a handshake. Janus accepted, barking happily.

Laurie laughed softly, his amber brown eyes sparkling as he tilted his head up to look at Ana through a curtain of blonde curls.

He really was cute, she thought to herself, giving him a warm smile.

"So...where'd he come from?" He asked softly.

"He was injured. I brought him home to make sure he was alright."

Laurie flashed her a winning grin as he rubbed the Doberman's belly. "That's my, Ana. Always watching out for others."

Haydren stepped out of the bathroom, a towel draped over his bare shoulders. He twisted his red hair back to wring out the left over water from the shower and then shook his head like a dog. Silently, he padded barefoot into the hall then stopped when he heard voices near the apartment door. His ears strained to hear the ongoing conversation, trying to assess the situation.

Who was this person? A friend or a foe? Why was he here? All these questions ran through his mind, but he got an answer for not one of them.

"That's good to hear..." The unknown boy was saying. "I was actually wondering if you had anything planned for this weekend. I thought we might try to catch a movie or something. That is...if you aren't busy?"

Haydren could sense the nervousness in the boys voice, even though his tone stayed confident. He quirked a lip in a small smirk. Ah, so she had a little admirer?

He heard Ana fidgeting, shifting on her feet a little as she spoke. "Well, I'm going to be really busy this weekend, Laurie..."

Haydren listened intently to her voice. She was nervous, but not in a good way. He could sense her fear started to spike and it alarmed him. He immediately began to reassess the situation. This boy, Laurie as Ana had called him, seemed to frighten her.

"I understand. What about next weekend?"

He was one of those weird boys, Haydren realized. A stalker perhaps?

"I don't know, Laurie. I'll have to see what's going on." Ana sighed softly and he heard the rustle of fabric as she crossed her arms.

"Mandy said you might try to avoid me, but I had to give it a shot atleast." It was his turn to sigh this time.

"I'm sorry, Laurie. I've just got alot of stuff going on right now. I don't know when I'll have any free time nowadays... "

Haydren decided enough was enough. He stepped out of the hallway and into the foyer just behind Ana.

"If it's school stuff I can help you, you--oh." Laurie stopped mid sentence as he saw Haydren come into the light in just a pair of baggy sweat pants, his bare chest beaded with water from a shower. "...I see."

Ana blinked and turned to see what it was that Laurie had infact seen and found her new room mate shirtless, his red hair still dripping alittle. "Um...Laurie, this is Haydren. Haydren...Laurie..."

Laurie gave Haydren a friendly nod, but his posture said it all, as did his eyes. He felt stupid, betrayed even and quietly, Haydren was watching those emotions play across his eyes. "I had no idea you were seeing someone. You should have told me, Ana..."

Ana looked between them. "No, Laurie, wait. It's not what you thi-"

Laurie held up his hand to stop her before she dug herself a deeper hole. "Ana, don't. I'm the one that made the mistake. You owe me no explanation."

"But-"

Laurie shook his head, looking to Haydren over Ana's head. "No hard feelings, Haydren?"

Haydren made no move to reply, merely stood there as a dominant presence, his arms crossed cooly, but flexed enough to show the finely worked muscles under the skin.

Laurie nodded and stepped back, his nervousness spiked now. "Sorry for the misunderstanding." He turned and headed down the hallway.

"Laurie..." Ana went to follow him, but stopped when he turned his eyes to look at her through his curls. Those brown eyes looked so hurt.

"I'll see you around, Ana..." Without he went to his apartment door and disappeared inside.

Ana sighed heavily and went back inside her own apartment after a moment, finding Haydren leaning his shoulder against the wall as he waited for her to come back.

She bit her tongue, but decided to let the anger go on him. He wasn't a friend, nor was he her boyfriend. He was a roommate that had no right to meddle into things like this. "Why did you do that?" She snapped, cutting her eyes to him as she shut the door.

Haydren kept his cool demeanor. "Do what?"

Ana let the air out of her nose. He's right, she thought. He really didn't do anything wrong, but still.

"He was making you nervous, Sir." Haydren stated his observations when she was quiet for too long. "I sensed your fear. He was bothering you."

"He wasn't bothering me!" Ana rubbed her forehead. Her headache slowly throbbing to life.

"Clearly he was or you wouldn't have been so fearful. Even he knew he was bothering you." He reasoned as he walked to the kitchen, grabbing a glass of milk.

"He was being polite because he thought he had done something wrong." She followed him, rummaging in the cabinet above the stove for the Tylenol.

"He did. For some reason he was making you extremely uncomfortable." He took a long drink of the milk.

"I was embarrassed! Of course I was uncomfortable!" She groaned, popping two pills into her mouth and got a glass of water to down them.

"So, he was bothering you." Haydren muttered, deciding he had won the conversation and went to sit in the living room.

Ana gave a frustrated sigh. "No. He wasn't."

"You make no sense, Sir."

"Get used to it." She glared at him as she headed through the living room then turned to start down the hallway and to her room. His voice stopped her, however.

"Why did you lie to him?"

She turned to him, tilting her head curiously as to what he meant. "What?"

"You told him you had a lot to do and had no free time. You lied." Haydren shrugged, settling into the plush couch.

"I didn't lie. I do have a lot to do with homework and school. I don't have time for him right now."

"You don't like him?"

Ana perked her brow at him in confusion. "Of course I do. He's my friend and he's a sweet guy..."

"Then why lie and try to avoid him?" Haydren asked, chugging the rest of the milk and then leveled his gaze on her's expectantly.

"Because...I..." Ana started to answer, but the words trailed off. She clenched her fist and her lips shut and headed off toward her bedroom.

Haydren didn't need to know her reason. He didn't need to know why she didn't go out with Laurie or anyone for that matter. It was none of his business how she spent her free time or with whom. She didn't have to explain her secret fears to him, someone she didn't even know. She didn't have to tell him why she didn't want to get too close to anyone again anytime soon...