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Chapter 4

" This is it. "

Kate had come to a halt in front of a building and was staring up at it with a resentful look on her face. And Sawyer could see why. The building was low, only two storeys high with stops that ran up the front and a balcony with a railing that ran all the way around the second floor. Grey, semi curtained windows poked out with disinterest from the second floor and in the parking lot ( which Kate and Sawyer were standing in ) litter that blew about uselessly.

Sawyer looked back to the girl, the girl he knew as Annie. This dump couldn't be their destination could it? Kate locked eyes with him accidentally as she cast a glance his way and quickly looked back again, chewing on her bottom lip. Evidently she wasn't very proud of her "bed-sit." Looking back to it Sawyer had to agree with her. Then again, he had stayed in worse places.

As they stood Sawyer noticed the quite significant lack of movement on Annie's part. He didn't know what whether she was standing still to see if he would go away, or whether she had accepted that he was somehow ( and for some goddamn reason ) looking after her.

" You gonna invite me in or what then Freckles?"

It appeared to be the former, as the girl glanced at Sawyer before digging her hand into her jeans pocket and taking out a small room key. Sawyer raised an eyebrow.

" Damn. It's near miraculous that that thing's still in there. "

The girl glanced at Sawyer grimly.

" You haven't seen the room yet. "

Usually Kate would stroll straight into the room, whatever room it was, and get straight down to business. Yet now, because she had this man, this "guest" she found herself pausing at the doorway and surveying the room ( which had seemed tidier when she left that morning ) with him. And there was no helping it, the room was dank and dark and unappealing in every possible way.

Limping over to the nearest wall Kate flicked on the light switch, which still didn't help things much. Glancing back at "Sawyer" Kate saw his disapproving look.

" It's not as bad as it looks. " she protested weakly. Kate didn't really know why she was trying to defend the room which she hated, and complained about bitterly to herself, but she was. Sawyer shot her an unconvinced glance, and gingerly stepped into the room and shut the door behind him.

"Yeah well I'm sure the roaches keep excellent company Freckles. "

The place was a dump. Stepping into the room Sawyer had no idea where to sit, or if he should remain standing. What was better, leaning against the radiator with the mould stains or trying to find free space on the dilapidated couch?

" Do you want some coffee?"

Sawyer glanced over at Annie, who looked almost as awkward as he felt. Desperate to have something to do he nodded in the affirmative though secretly wishing for something a little stronger. The girl nodded at retreated behind the kitchenette counter, and Sawyer felt it best not to watch her. He considered sitting, but noticed the blinds were drawn down. Maybe the room would be a little better with some more light …

" Oh could you not - OW!"

Sawyer whipped round at the sound of crash. The girl was clutching her arm in pain and hurrying around to the counter Sawyer noted the spilled coffee granules all over the floor.

" Not exactly right as rain then huh?"

" Damn it!" the girl cried in frustration.

" Hey, hey, take it easy now. " Sawyer reached out an arm towards the girl, careful not to touch her. " Go sit down, I'll clear this up. "

The girl opened her mouth to protest but Sawyer interrupted her once more.

" Don't argue, you're only gonna hurt yourself more and though I'm sure this is the kinda neighbourhood where you hear girls screaming quite frequently I'm not partial to it alright?"

The girl seemed to ignore him, crouching down further and starting to gather up the spilt mess. Sawyer rolled his eyes in frustration.

" Would you just leave the goddamn coffee?!"

Shouting at her seemed to work, as the girl straightened up, and even with a somewhat defiant look on her face haughtily allowed herself to be led over to the couch. Sawyer resisted the urge to chuckle.

As she sat down Sawyer noticed the girl was still clutching her arm, which was also spotted with violently red dots of blood. Sawyer nodded in the direction of her injuries.

" You're gonna need to clean those injuries. "

The girl nodded silently in agreement.

Sawyer glanced to the door which he guessed was the bathroom.

" You actually got any supplies?"

"Annie" didn't reply but she didn't need to. Sawyer sighed.

" Alright, I'll make a trip to the drug store and get you what you need. Some antiseptic right?"

The girl looked up sharply, a mouth forming a small oval of protest.

" You can't - "

" I damn well can I've got a quick errand to run anyway. I know where the nearest drug store is so I'll be back in 10. But you're gotta promise to let me in. "

As Sawyer let himself out of the small dank room he thought to himself that he could have sworn the girl had smiled a little.

It was on his way back from the drug store that Sawyer dropped by the local garage. Seeking out the man who ran the place, Sawyer found the overweight gentlemen in the back office, feet up on the desk, playing a game of online poker. Reserving his snort of distaste, Sawyer asked if he could pick up his car at 5, instead of 3. The man, in a moment of surprise, agreed gruffly adding "no later than that" as the garage was closing. Otherwise Sawyer'd have to come back and pick it up tomorrow morning, and pay a little more for taking up garage space a little longer.

" So you'd better finish what you're doing in the next couple of hours or so. "

Walking along the pavement, brown paper bag swinging from his left hand, Sawyer wondered what the hell it was that he was doing.

Kate couldn't help but flinch when she heard the knock on her door. She was just done clearing up the remaining coffee grains scattered on the floor ( she had already had enough trouble with rats ) when the sound came, and she almost split the mess she had just cleared up all over again.

Standing up and shaking herself down she walked over to the door; she knew it wasn't the police, they tended to bang heavily, rudely and repeatedly without hesitation, this man seemed to rap three times, in neat succession. It was almost like a secret knock, a sign letting her know it was him and she could trust him.

Kate smiled; she liked that.

Still she didn't smile as she opened the door, her walls were up for a reason after all. Instead she gave the southerner, Sawyer, a cursory nod which he returned, only with the ghost of amusement playing over his face. Kate swallowed and turned back to the kitchen, even though she had just cleared up, so she could have something to do. She heard Sawyer follow her in, and shut the door behind him.

" Your room service is here. "

Kate turned to face Sawyer, who was holding up a small brown paper bag. And suddenly she felt like smacking a hand to her head; she had forgotten about the "supplies. "

" Oh, yeah. "

Kate came out from behind the counter and headed towards the couch, grabbing a small white packet of plasters off the counter as she went.

"I found these in the bathroom. I thought they might help. But I think a few have been used."

" Wouldn't surprise me. "

Kate sat down on the couch as Sawyer ungraciously dumped the stuff on the coffee table.

" There you are Freckles. " he declared

Kate glanced up at him shyly, suppressing the urge to smile gratefully, and instead murmured her thanks. Sitting down and looking away she started to draw objects out of the paper bag, inspecting each one carefully.

Sawyer stood to the side with his hand shoved in his pockets, watching Kate examine his purchases. He was slightly worried that he might have gotten the wrong stuff, he had just bought whatever brand he usually grabbed after a particularly rough night, or a bar fight, both of which tended to coincide quite frequently.

To distract himself Sawyer looked away from Annie, and instead re-surveyed the room.It seemed cleaner than before, which was strange as he could have sworn he could recall cans and cartons in the trash sitting out in the corner, plus some clothes slung over a chair. Sawyer looked back toward Kate suspiciously. Had she cleaned up in here? Strangely he felt flattered, he didn't really strike himself as someone anyone would want to impress, let alone clean up for. And God knows he had been in some wrecks in his time. To be fair this room was better than those, but it still really wasn't that impressive. The walls were dank, it smelt funny, there were no lamps except for the halogen bulbs in the ceiling, and the furniture was all torn, mismatched, and poorly looked after. There wasn't even a picture or nice curtains in an attempt to make the place look even a little bit appealing. It was what is was, 4 walls and a roof. Which, for the people who had to come here, was all they really wanted Sawyer supposed. He chanced another look at " Annie" sadly; what had happened to this girl that she had to live in this dump? From what he could tell she was quite young, maybe a runaway?

It was just as Sawyer was studying her in contemplation, that Annie happened to look away from the bottle in one hand and up to meet Sawyer's eyes, looking straight at her. The expression on his face must have been more pitying than he thought, because she riled and bristling said;

" Look thanks for the medicine but you don't have to stay."

On a normal day Sawyer would have been very much inclined to agree with her, but instead he found himself replying;

" Hey I'm still waiting on that cup of coffee Freckles. "

Besides, this wasn't turning out to be a normal day at all.

Tucked away in the kitchenette, Sawyer discreetly watched the girl from behind the counter. She was dabbing her arm with cotton wool, dampened with some kind of fluid. She reminded him of a cat licking her wounds.

The hiss of the kettle brought Sawyer out of his reverie, and as he opened up the overboard cupboard two more things came to his attention; that the coffee she had was most definitely the cheap stuff ( he should know ) and that there was barely any food in any of this girl's, Annie's, cupboards. It wasn't a heartening sight.

Sawyer looked back to Annie. She seemed to be pulling a shard of glass out of her arm, resiliently trying not to wince at the pain.

No, thought Sawyer, not heartening at all.

By the time he brought out two mugs Kate had finished dressing her wounds. Sawyer placed a mug on the glass table and straightening up fixed her with a grimace.

" I hope you like your coffee black because you're running low on milk Freckles. "

And a dozen other things. He added to himself.

Kate stood and flexed her arm tentatively. Sawyer observed her.

" That stuff work?"

" Yeah. " This time Kate shot Sawyer a real grateful smile, quickly before her brain caught up with her and she turned back to her arm again, holding it out for Sawyer to look at.

" I got most of the gravel out and cleaned all the blood off, but I didn't manage to get all of it so I'm gonna go take a shower. "

Carefully she looked up at Sawyer again. Then cleared her throat.

" Um, you're welcome to stay if you want, you know to finish your coffee."

Sawyer hesitated in answering immediately, which was strange for him. He knew that right now, he could go if he wanted to; she no longer needed him so any residual guilt in causing her injury ( albeit whilst saving her life ) could now be written off the record. And he hadn't even made a pass at her. But somehow he couldn't forget the stark images of those empty cupboards and the thought of this girl, sitting alone in this horrible room, with her cheap coffee, tatty furniture and a few bottles of antibiotic wasn't a pretty picture to dwell on. And just by looking at her, hell even listening to her voice, he could tell she didn't want him to go. The coffee was just a thinly veiled excuse.

Well there was no harm in staying was there? Except his car was waiting for him; but he could pick that up tomorrow morning. So where are you gonna stay the night then? Sawyer pushed the thought aside as Annie stood, and he moved to make way for her.

As she went back into the bathroom he sunk back down into the couch, still holding his white chipped mug of coffee which was now resting between his legs. As he sat Sawyer heard a lock click, and he glanced towards the bathroom door. He smiled to himself, the girl may be lonely but she sure 'aint stupid.

Drinking another mouthful of his coffee Sawyer winced at the bitterness and suddenly wished he had his flask on him. But still he continued to drink, and turned to look out the window, at the grey day and the cold street, and he held the hot mug tightly between his chapped hands. Glancing at his watch told him it was 3:17 pm; which meant he had about two hours and 30 minutes to spend before he had to leave.

That's alright. Sawyer took another sip of his coffee. 'Aint so bad in here.

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