Declaimer: All characters are owned by Rockstar games except for the OC's
Chapter 2
Niko arrived back at his apartment at Northwood (Playboy X's old apartment) finally after about 3 hours at the Superstar Café, it was always took longer with Roman than his other friends. He was such a pig when it came to food.
He walked to the kitchen to look for a bottle of vodka, he did eventually found one in the back of one cupboards. He got a glass from the sink and pored the vodka into the it.
Niko sat down on the large couch. He just stared at the glass.
"He's right. I got to stopped doing this to myself"
2 hours ago...
"Cousin, you got drunk again?" said Roman between bites of his food.
"So?"
"So, you going to end up like our fathers?"
"No!" Niko slammed his fists on the table.
The noise of his fists against the table made everyone nearby looked at them.
"You're coursing a scene, Cousin."
"Just shut up!" he got up and walked out of the restaurant.
Roman moved out of chair, walked over to the register to pay the bill. Then he followed his way-ward cousin out the restaurant. He found him in the alleyway next to the restaurant with one arm out towards the wall and palm out flat.
Niko was trying to calm down. Life hadn't been the same since Kate was taken away from him. He just wanted to forget that day and the only way he could forget was at the bottom of a glass.
"Cousin?" said Roman
"I couldn't do anything to save her."
"Stop blaming yourself, Niko."
Niko turned around to face Roman. "It's my fault she's dead!"
"It's not your fault she's dead! It was Pegorino's fault."
"I was meant to protect her" Niko bowed his head
Roman place an arm round Niko's shoulder. "I'll drive you home." He and Niko walked back to the car. "You got to stop doing that to your to yourself man"
Niko chuckled at the thought of Roman being right about something. He placed the glass of vodka
on the coffee table.
Maybe he should work at the cab depot or for Phil again.
Niko glanced at the clock on the dvd player, it's was 4:15 am.
"I better get to bed" he walked to the bedroom.
He woke up in the afternoon. Since he had nothing else to do that day, he decided to watch some t.v.
All that was on was some old re-runs of I'm Rich and Medicate Me and there wasn't good movies on the Movie channels.
About 9.30pm, night had fallen on Liberty City.
Niko thought about calling one of his friends. Packie said going out of Liberty City for a couple of months and Brucie had got himself a steady girlfriend, she was a fitness fanatic like Brucie, so he won't be hanging with either of them.
He picked up his phone and called Dwayne go to play pool.
"Hey Dwayne it's Niko, wanna go and play pool?"
"I haven't heard from for awhile, thought you gone got thrown pen or something. Sure I'll play pool with you"
"I'll be there within the hour"
Niko walked out of the apartment, got in his Cognoscenti and drove to Dwayne's Place.
After a few rounds of pool (Niko won once), he drove Dwayne back home.
"It was nice hangin' with Niko, your a good friend."
Niko decided to take a drive down Grummer Rd and Walnut Way, not for a hooker but to take in the smell of the water, it was some what relaxing and he really need to clear his head.
Half way down Walnut Way, he notice a woman and a man. Thinking it was just another lowlife picking up a hooker for some late night action, so he just drove pass them. Next he heard a shrill sound of a gun shot.
"You fucking prick!" cried a woman voice
Niko slammed on the break and put the car in reverse.
"Michael you kurac!" (dick)
"Speak English you Slavic whore" he walk towards her with a fist clenched
"Jebi se" (fuck you) she said, backing away from him as fast has she could with an injury to the shoulder.
A sound of a car door opening was heard near by.
"Your an American ain't you? So speak English" Michael pulled back his fist.
Niko couldn't believe what he was seeing, was he going to really hit the woman? He recognised the man from before, it was the Albanian scumbag Michael. He got out his Glock 17 from his jacket pocket and aimed it at the Albanian's leg. Slowly he push the trigger of the gun and fired a shot at the Albanian's leg.
"Ahhh!" cried out Michael, he was shot in the knee cap and maybe shattered.
Michael fell to the ground.
Melody laughed a little at him but the gun shot wound prevented her from laughing further, she clenched a hand on the shoulder.
"Shit, that's going to leave a scar"
Niko walk up to her "You okay?"
"I'll be fine" she looked at him "Your the Serb who helped me last night. Niko Belic wasn't it?"
"Yes" he smiled a little.
"I've would of shot him sooner or later one of these days, he was such a kurac. Do mind if you take back to Little Bay in Bohan?"
"Sure, but why go back there? Shouldn't I take you to hospital first?"
"I ain't gonna die from a gun-shot in the shoulder, besides I have to get my stuff from the apartment before he comes to"
Both walked to Niko's car which was parked a couple metres away.
Niko headed towards the Northwood Heights Bridge. When they were on the bridge Niko asked her a question "Where did you learn Croatian from?"
Melody was a little shocked but surprise. "My father. He taught me, my sister and both of my brothers because my grandparents, his parents, didn't speak English very good"
"You must know Croatian good, you called him a dick and said fuck you"
Her face turned bright red. "You understood that" she stared at a place on the dashboard.
He chuckled "Serbian and Croatian are almost the same, that why I could understand"
"I know that, my Aunt Anica married a half-American/half Serbian who spoke Serbian"
Now they were on the Northern Express way, the conversion continued...
"She born here or Croatia?"
"Here in the U.S in the Midwest, my Uncle Goran and my father were born in Croatia on the island Cres" it was weird, she could open up to him real easily she rarely open up to people like this but there was something about him.
"I had a friend named Goran"
"It was the war, was it?" her eyes had soften
"Yes" his voice was a tiny bit strained with emotion
"Wars are horrible things, they can create monsters, turn families and friends against each other"
"Sounds like you know about wars"
"My djed Luka and his brothers were in World War II as soldiers; it had broken him. He had killed people, some were his cousins. He came to America as soon as he could, my father was 7 at the time. And why I know about wars"
"Wow" he wasn't expecting her to say that
Niko stopped the car at a pretty shabby apartment building, it looked like it been worn by age.
Melody got out of the car and walked in the building.
20 minutes later, she reappeared in a fresh outfit (not as revealing like before), faded jeans, a purple camisole top with wedge sandals and a bandage warped around the bullet wound. She was carrying a large black bag, it was heavy and the excruciating pain in her shoulder didn't help.
Seeing that, Niko got out of the car to help her. He walked over to her.
"Let me help with that" he took the bag out of her hands
"Hvala" (Thank you)
"Nema problema" (No problem) He opened the boot of the car and place the bag in.
"Ti si takav gospodin" (You're such a gentleman) she giggled and walk to the passenger's side door.
"Funny" he walked to the driver's side.
"Which funny? Weird funny or ha ha funny"
"Both"
"What, your not such a gentleman then" open her door and sat down.
"Sometimes" he done the same.
"Nah, your eyes says something different"
"Your a very strange girl"
"Yep, sometimes I am" She laughed.
He laughed too, her laugh was some what infectious. That a type of girl he should go out with or at least get to know her a little bit more.
"Before we go, what's your destination?"
"I haven't thought about, was supposed get an apartment first before I was gonna leave Michael"
"So your homeless!"
"It's no biggie, I've been homeless before but I don't go back where I was before"
"You can stay with me"
"What! You sure I won't be imposing on you, what if you want bring back a girl back to your..."
"Don't worry, I have no girlfriends"
"But I'll stay until I find an apartment"
Niko started the car and drove towards the apartment in Northwood.
They both arrived at the apartment and both got out the car.
Niko walked to the back of the car, open the boot and got out Melody's bag. He walked in the apartment building, Melody followed him close behind.
The security guard at the desk lobby said 'Hello' as they both walked to the elevator, Niko push the button to open the doors, they both stepped in the elevator. He push the button for the penthouse.
"Your bag heavy. What have you got in it?" said Niko switching to the other arm.
"Just the usual stuff" she answered has she checked herself out in the polish steel panels.
"Like what?"
"Like clothes, my makeup, shoes, hair-dryer, hair straighter/curler, a couple of hand bags and some cash I've been stashing away" she turned around to face him
"Shit, I didn't even bring that much from Serbia, only brought a few personnel items over"
The elevator stopped at the top floor and the door opened. He got his keys out his pocket and opened the second set of doors. They stepped in the apartment.
Niko put her bag down near the large coach.
"It's fancy but it's filthy at the same time" she glanced around the large room
"I wasn't expecting company"
She walked into the kitchen area, she had notice the dozen of empty bottles of alcohol.
"Your an alcoholic" she picked a bottle
"I guess so. About 8 months ago I lost someone I cared for"
"I've been there before" she closed her eyes as though she was remembering and clenching a small silver cross from around her neck.
"Who did you lose?"he walked up behind her
"My father, he died 13 years ago. I was a junkie for 9 years to forget about it along with other things"
"9 years to forget"
"That doesn't matter now. I've been clean for a year and I can shed the prostitute gig once and for all"
"Your are...were a prostitute"
"I was tricked into it by a ex-boyfriend and being a junkie didn't help. But that's in the past now"
She felt his hands on her shoulder, did she picked the wrong guy again? Thoughts flooded her mind, her heart started racing, she prepared herself what she thought might happen.
Niko felt her shoulders tense up "Let have a look at your shoulder?"
Melody sighed with relief "Oh, sure. Where shall I sit?"
"On the couch"
She proceeded to the couch and sat down.
He glanced at the bandage, there was a patch of blood.
"You mind if I take of the bandage?"
"Go ahead"
He unravelled the bandage, blood was oozing from the bullet wound. With a clean towel from the bathroom, he lightly placed pressure on the wound but in no time the towel turned white to blood red.
"The bullet still in, is it?"
"I didn't have time to take it out"
He strolled into the kitchen, opened a draw and picked up a knife. He came back to her.
"This going to hurt"
With the point of the knife, he dug into the wound.
She cringed sightly as he the knife in. This was nothing she been in worse pain before. She could hear the sound of fresh and the steel of the knife grinning against the bone and the pain was worse than the sound.
Finally the bullet flew onto the coffee table in front of them both. Niko first soaked some cotton wool with some disinfectant to clean the wound, next he neatly switch the wound and last he put fresh bandages on. Melody examined Niko's handy work.
"You're good"
"Thanks"
She rose from the couch and began to walked around the apartment, glazing at the items in the apartment. I've been here before pausing at the french doors. The morning sun was rising over the grey clouds. She gave a yawn, covering her mouth as she did.
"I guess you're tired" She turned around
She came up to him, studying his face "You too. It looks like you haven't slept in months"
"I guess I haven't" He learned one thing about her, she's was observant of the most obvious things.
"Where shall I sleep?"
"You take the bed, I'll sleep on the couch"
"You sure?" Second thing he learned, she was considerate of others. Very unusual for someone who lives in Liberty City.
"It's not a problem, I've fallen asleep many times on the couch"
"Oh" she peaked around the corner of the wall dividing the bedroom from the lounge; it was the bedroom on the other side. Niko walked in the room.
"Come" he said. She glanced at him with distrust in her eyes and slight fear too. Slowly she stepped into the room. "You okay?"
She almost jumped "I'm fine" attempting to keep herself calm. He opened up the wardrobe and grabbed some blankets and a pillow.
"I'll get your bag" He walked out the room, placed the blankets and pillow on the couch, grabbed her bag and came back in the room, placing it close to the bed. "Mmm, thanks"
"My pleasure" He walked out of the room.
Melody sat down on the large double bed, she took off her shoes neatly placing them at the foot of the bed. Before laying down on the bed, she back the chocolate blanket and got in, pulling up the cover to her just over her chest. She drifted into sleep.
Niko had gotten himself comfortable on the couch, his head on the pillow and cover over him. Began to wonder want it going to like living with this girl, this strange girl he just met a day ago. Did he do the right thing in letting her stay here? He fell asleep wondering.
A/N: djed is grandfather in Croatian. In later chapters there will be more Croatian and Serbian.
I hope this chapter is not to long. Well, review and no flaming.