Wow, sorry it took so long to get this out, but thanks for the patience :D
So as an Easter gift to all of you lovely readers, I present the eleventh installment of S&N.
Enjoy, and let me know if you do!
Chapter Eleven
He watched her push open one of the heavy glass double doors, and any words he had tried to formulate died on his tongue. Matt flicked the cigarette into the street and let out a frustrated groan, throwing his hands in the air and turning on his heels to head home. Whether or not she had intended to fall asleep on him was a question he could not answer, but what Matt did know as he shoved his hands into his pockets was that she was something he could not deny any longer. And one way or another, he would… he would what?
Mello's face came to his mind again, and Matt dropped his eyes to the pavement he was trekking over. A cold feeling suddenly filled his chest as he turned a corner. Kira had killed his best friend, his only confidant, and it was the only truth that Matt ever held onto. He found himself gritting his teeth at the thought of some punk trying to play God. Some punk who had decided that Mello wasn't good enough to live.
A sudden taste of utter hatred filtered into his mouth, and Matt had to spit to make the flavor seem more tolerable. Kira would pay if he had his way. And he would get his way.
Audrey floated her way up to her room and dropped onto her bed with a happy sigh. Sure, she was painfully awkward as she tried to say a proper goodbye, but all the same, she had laid against his chest and felt his arms around her, and in the darkness of his cold apartment, she had felt bright and warm. And yet, he had apologized. He had apologized for his tender touches and for the few, fleeting moments of the something so pure and gentle that he had opened to her. He had apologized, which lead Audrey to believe that, as she looked into the blackness of her ceiling, he regretted it. She knew one thing was certain; if he regretted it, it was likely to never happen again.
She closed her eyes and brought forth the memory of his lips, grazing her skin, and a chill rushed up her spine, dizzying her head, even as she lay there. But following such soft gestures was the unfriendly stiffening of his body as he realized she was conscious of his movements. Oh, ever so conscious… Audrey pushed herself off of the bed and walked quickly to the bathroom, stripping clothes on the way and leaving them where they landed. She turned the knob in her shower and stepped in without tuning the temperature. Audrey jumped slightly when the cold spray collided to her body. She inhaled deeply and held the breath and the urge to scream inside.
How was she supposed to know what he was thinking? Maybe he never wanted to see her again. Maybe all he wanted was to see her again. Maybe he was thinking of her the same way she was thinking of him, hoping for some kind of sign that it was alright. Or maybe Audrey was an idiot girl holding her breath under a cascade of freezing water and maybe he just made a mistake in getting so comfortably adventurous with her. The warmth that had flooded her not so long ago was lost to the icy stream and the vision of his cold eyes behind her lids.
Audrey sniffled, with a little resistance, and she reached up, wiping her fingers just under her nose. Blood droplets fell past her fingers and splashed to the white tiles, where they mixed with water and rushed away down the drain. She wiped at her nose with the back of her hand and sniffled again. Dark ruby drops and smears of blood seemed to stain her pale hands and the blank, pristine tiles of her shower. Audrey grimaced at the sight of red, a red that can only be properly described as blood that has met air. She heaved out the breath she was holding in and turned off the water, stepping out of the shower and wrapping a towel around herself, leaving little puddles of water behind her as she made her way to sit on the toilet.
She pulled at the toilet paper, grumbling as she bunched it up and pressed it to her nose. She wanted to see him again. Hell, every minute of every day since she'd realized it was him thanking her for the cigarette, she'd wanted to see him again. She sighed and blew her nose into the tissue, flinching with slight revulsion at the sound.
She couldn't just show up at his house because she would have no better reason than wanting to see him.
And that would make her look like a complete fool. She could see it in her head: getting lost in the maze of halls, stumbling to his door to knock meekly, and then standing awkwardly in the front entrance with no voice as he looked her over with questioning eyes. Sure, Audrey, that would go really nicely.
She let the air in her lungs go as she pushed herself up and dropped the towel, crawling into bed without bothering with dressings. As if it would matter; she was just going to wake up alone anyways.
In a closed-off room a level above, Near was sitting on the floor with one knee tucked to his chest, the other folded underneath his body. The train set made its circle around him, each cart carrying a puppet or robot toy. He twirled his ivory hair in his slender fingers. "I think Audrey should be monitored a little closer," he said thoughtfully.
Hal, sitting at the wall unit of computers behind Near, turned her chair to face him as his soft voice met her ears, unsure of what she had just heard. She cocked her head to the side. "Why would you think that?" she speculated. Near shook his head slightly, lifting his eyes to Hal's.
"If Matt is involved, I'm sure he'll use whatever means he can to get closer to the investigation."
Hal gasped slightly. Surely he doesn't mean… that he would use that sweet girl? She cleared her throat. "You don't really think…" Near turned his attention to the passing train. He plucked the Kira puppet from one of its carts and slipped it onto his finger, wiggling it at Hal as he spoke again. "How would you feel is someone killed your only friend in the world?"
Hal made a face of extreme distaste at the ugly little finger puppet with its blank eyes and dopey smile. Near's monotone question rang in her ears. She shook her head, the blond fringe falling into her stern eyes. "I will leave it to you, Hal, to see that she meets no harm," Near said through barely parted lips. "If you think for just one moment that Mail could be using her," his untroubled grey eyes trailed up to meet Hal's. He looked up at her without moving his head. "Please, do not hesitate to inform me."
Though she wasn't quite sure what to make of the assignment she had just been handed, Hal Linder turned back to her monitors and continued to scan and rescan the security camera screens that broadcasted the tapes from a few days before, trying to formulate a plan of action in her head. Placing camera's in Audrey's bedroom might be borderline nosey.
Maybe putting them in the halls might be more discreet…
She tugged her bottom lip between her teeth, grazing her eyes over the top row of screens. The one to the far right caught her eye. The camera faced the main entrance of the complex and showed Audrey making an exit. Hal noted the time; barely six a.m. She slid her eyes to Near, and finding him distracted with a puzzle on the floor, she fast-forwarded the tape until she saw the familiar curly red hair making its way up to the front doors. The entire day wasted away before she arrived back, hands carrying shopping bags and a Styrofoam cup. Matt's trademark striped shirt was a dead give-away, and Hal made a note of the two's arrival.
She remembered then that upon Audrey's second day staying at their complex, she had gone off to rebuild her wardrobe, which explained the bags, but when Matt had entered the picture was a mystery to her. She fast-forwarded again to the next morning, and again, made a note of Audrey's departure time. What is with this girl waking with the dawn? Hal asked herself.
The day passed and Audrey did not show again until past two in the morning; this time, alone. Hal switched camera angles to show her the view of across the street, and sure enough, there was Matt, waiting to see the young girl inside. They have been spending an awful lot of time together over these few days… but surely, his intent is… but then again, how is it that they even stumbled into each other in the first place? Odds of that being pure chance are… next to none.
Hal narrowed her eyes at the screens and the notes she took on a stray piece of paper. She found herself wondering what the odds of Near's assumptions being true really were, and with a slightly heavy heart for the girl, she slid the paper into one of her notebooks. Hal grabbed a black permanent marker and wrote Audrey's name over the top in small, capital letters.