...And a Happy New Year

March 2, 2014

Chaney woke up to a commotion in the kitchen. She sprung awake from her bed, and quietly got out of bed. She carefully pulled her comforter off her legs, and stepped into her slippers sitting on the floor by her bed. She looked around her room for something she could use to defend herself. She thought she had locked the door behind her the night before when she came in; so either she left the door unlocked or the perpetrator broke down the door. What she couldn’t figure out is how she didn’t wake up from them breaking down the door.

She found an umbrella leaning up against one of her walls and opted to use that. She didn’t know how much good it would do her, but she figured she would think on her feet if she had to. She quickly pulled on a pair of shorts under her baggy sweatshirt, and made her way quietly to the kitchen where the noise was gradually getting louder. What was puzzling her more was the smell of bacon and eggs growing stronger as she approached the kitchen as well. She was all but defeated when she stepped into the doorway of her kitchen, seeing someone leaning into her fridge for something. Whoever broke into her apartment decided to make breakfast?

She stood there in a stunned silence, not knowing how to react to what she was witnessing. Does she go after whoever is in her kitchen, or wait to see who it is and grab a plate?

She didn’t have time to make a decision as the fridge closed to reveal the culprit, a smiling Halvo.

“Indy! You’re up!”

He then walked over to her, kissed her on the crown of her head, and returned to the stove to continue making breakfast.

She was still confused as to what was going on. He was in California. Was the brief tour over already? Why was he standing in her kitchen making breakfast? Furthermore, how did he get in her apartment to begin with?

Halvo continued moving about the kitchen, finishing up breakfast and setting the kitchen bar where they would eat, while Chaney still stood in the doorway, unmoving from when she first entered. She was still processing everything that was happening.

Halvo was about to sit down when he noticed Chaney was still standing there. He laughed a little and dragged her by her wrists to the bar. He placed her on a stool, and moved to stand on the other side, facing her. He began dishing out their plates and began eating, hoping she would start as well. She continued to sit there, stone faced, not even making eye contact.

He was beginning to worry about her, as she refused to look at him, much less react to anything going on. He feared she was still angry at him for going on a short tour with Chain Gang without telling her, but he had his reasons not to. She would understand in time, but he was beginning to wonder if the surprise was worth her anger with him. He was trying so hard to make this new relationship between them work and he hoped he didn’t already screw it up. He didn’t tell anyone about his plan, including John, just so he wouldn’t risk Chaney finding out about his surprise.

He finished his plate, and Chaney still sat there unmoving, food untouched. He got up to put his dishes in the sink, and put the leftover food in the fridge as Chaney didn’t appear to want to eat.

By the time he finished that, he looked over at Chaney, and saw that she still hadn’t moved. He couldn’t bear the silent treatment anymore and wanted to find out what was going on with her.

“Indy…” he sighed, “Chaney, c’mon what’s going on? It’s me. We talk to each other about everything. I can’t take the silent treatment.”

Chaney sighed, before begrudgingly looking towards Halvo. She shrugged her shoulders, and slumped off the stool before making her way to the living room to sit on the couch.

Halvo walked over to sit on the other end of the couch, turning towards her, waiting to hear what she had to say.

She slouched into the couch, and flopped her head to the left to face him.

He sat there, anticipating her reply, but none ever came. She just continued to stare at him. He wondered if she had any idea how much this was killing him inside. She never refused to talk to him before; especially when she was angry with him.

After a few minutes, she moved her left arm so her hand could graze the top of his right hand. She looked down at their hands. He had turned his hand over, palm up, so she could continue to run her fingers over the lines on his hand. She smiled as she played with his hand, his fingers occasionally touching the inside of her wrist. That simple touch from him set her body on fire. She felt herself blush from his simple contact, and quickly retracted her hand from his, embarrassed that he now had such power over her senses.

Upon retracting her hand, Halvo lightly laughed. Her blush didn’t go unnoticed, and he found it endearing that their simple interactions caused such a stir in her.

Her hands went to messing with the ends of her hair, just to give her hands something to do, since she was a bit flustered and embarrassed from the moments prior.

Halvo leaned over and grabbed her left hand, pulling it from messing with the ends of her hair. She looked over at him with furrowed brows, and simply smiled lightly at her before placing a small kiss on the top of her hand before getting up from the couch.

Chaney was still puzzled as to what was going on and why Halvo was in her apartment. She couldn’t decide whether she was happy to see him since it had been so long, or if she was angry at him because of it. To add to the mix, she was still confused as to how he even got into her apartment. She didn’t recall giving him a key and she sort of hoped he didn’t get one made before she got her key to the apartment. She didn’t know why that thought unsettled her, but it did. If Halvo had indeed gotten a key to her apartment made without her knowledge, she would have to do some reevaluation regarding their current relationship status. She still didn’t know what they were, but she didn’t want him to think that just because they were…whatever they were, that he could drop in unannounced all the time.

About that time, Halvo had returned to the living room, pillow in tow. He dropped it on Chaney’s lap before settling back on the couch, now laying his head on her lap where the pillow lie, and his legs hanging off the arm of the small couch. Trying to adjust so he didn’t hurt his ribs from the awkward position he was laying in, he adjusted so his right foot was on the ground, and his left leg was bent at the knee, on the couch acting as a brace between him and the arm of the couch.

Once Halvo had readjusted his position, Chaney instinctively took her right hand and began running her fingers through his hair, absent-mindedly playing with the ends of his hair. Her left hand went to the buttons at the top of his shirt, fiddling with the plastic pieces as they sat there in silence.

Halvo rested both of his hands on his stomach, and closed his eyes, content to just sit there enjoying each other’s presence. However, upon hearing Chaney’s quiet, defeated sigh, his eyes shot opened, and he turned his head back so he could get a better read on her face. He could tell she was fighting some sort of internal battle, but he wished she would talk to him about it. He didn’t want to force her to talk, but he knew if she didn’t talk to someone about it, it would eventually consume her.

He frowned slightly at her distress, and decided to press his luck and see if he could get her to budge. “Indy, c’mon babe, tell me what’s wrong.”

Chaney’s eyes widened, her gaze quickly shooting to Halvo, and a blush rising to her cheeks at the new nickname. Her gaze tore from his almost as quickly as it hit his, and now she had lost her nerve. She hated this new power he seemed to have over her.

Noting her nerves, Halvo took one of his hands, and clasped her hand that was still playing with the buttons at the top of his shirt. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze, hoping she would look at him again.

She knew what he was trying to do, and she knew she would eventually have to tell him about what was going on with her. She always did. He had a way of making her cave and tell him everything; even when she didn’t want to.

She sighed in defeat before deciding to talk. “Halvo, I just…I don’t understand what’s going on here.”
He tugged slightly on her hand that he was still holding, his eyebrows drawn together in confusion.

“What do you mean? I thought that we both agreed that—”

“That’s the thing Halv,” she cut him off, “we both agreed that we would make whatever this thing between us is work. As soon as we establish this, you completely ditch me. I mean, I’m not saying you have to spend every waking second with me, but god, one evening, or hell even a lunch would be nice. I haven’t seen you in over a week.”

He smiled, realizing her only anger was seeming to be aimed at his absence over the last few days. He was so tempted to just forget the surprise and tell her now, but couldn’t. If he did, all of his hard work and avoidance of her would have been for nothing. It wouldn’t be fair for either of them if he treated this surprise lightly.

“Chaney,” he cooed, her face still turned from his, “hey look at me please.”

She reluctantly turned her head towards him, and looked at his smirking face lying in her lap. Just that look on his face alone was enough to make her forgive him instantly, but she couldn’t give in that easily.

Once he had her attention, he turned on his side towards the couch, and with his right hand, lightly grabbed the side of her face.

“Hey, I promise we’ll spend more time together. I swear there’s a reason that I blew you off this past week, but I can’t tell you why right now. Just…trust me, please.”

She could see the pleading in his eyes, and gave in. She did trust him. He’d never let her down before. She leaned forward, closing the space between them as she connected their lips. She could feel him smile into the kiss, which in turn caused her to smile.

They weren’t in that position long when someone began banging on her front door. She sat up quickly, both laughing at what happened. She gently lifted his head off her lap, setting his head back on the couch before making her way to the front door to see who it was.

She opened the door to find a petite, shy brunette standing at her door.

“Is this Chaney Masters’s residence?”

Chaney nodded in response, wondering who this woman was.

“Do I know you? Who are you?”

The girl’s eyes widened as her head popped up to look Chaney in the eyes.

“You uh, don’t really know me. My name is Emily Johnson—”

“Wait! That’s Steph’s last name…are you related to her?”

“Uh…sorta. Listen, I know she doesn’t have many friends here, but I’ve heard her talk about you enough to know she trusts you and I had to look through her stuff to find your address.”

“Okay…so not to be rude, but why exactly are you here?”

“Stephanie has sort of…gone missing. I haven’t seen her since she left for work Friday morning.”

Chaney’s eyes bulged. “You mean she never came back to her apartment Friday after work?!”

Emily shook her head no.

Halvo had come up to the doorway by this time, wanting to help out. Noticing his disheveled hair, Emily blushed, and looked down in embarrassment.

“I uh, didn’t mean to intrude, I just wondered if maybe you knew where she was.”

Chaney shook her head, and Emily smiled lightly and nodded before walking away from her door and down the hallway towards the stairs.

Halvo took Chaney by the shoulders and drug her inside the apartment before closing the door. He noticed her catatonic state had returned, though he knew it was for different reasons. He led her towards the couch and sat her down. He sat on the coffee table across from her, and grabbed her hands, rubbing soothing circles onto her hands not knowing what to say to her. He didn’t hear what was said at the door, nor what had happened, but he knew whatever it was had upset Chaney. He was afraid to ask her about it, not wanting her to completely break down. However his protective instincts kicked in, overruling his more reserved side when it came to Chaney.

“Chaney…Chaney…hey, hon, look at me. What happened?”

She looked up at Halvo, tears in her eyes and replied, “Stephanie’s gone missing. She hasn’t been seen since she left work Friday.”

Halvo’s heart sank. He hadn’t been around Stephanie that much, but he considered her a friend. He could only imagine how Chaney was taking it because he knew she was Chaney’s only friend at work.

He pulled her into his embrace, as she began to cry into his shoulder as her rocked them back and forth in attempts to calm her down. He had to help her find Stephanie. He knew nothing about her so he had no idea how to go about looking for her, but he was determined to do so. He decided to talk to John about it, see if he’s heard from Stephanie, as well as seeing if he would know where to find her.

Halvo stayed with Chaney the rest of the day, simply holding her and letting her know that he was there. Once she was asleep, he adjusted her so she was more comfortable laying on the couch. He hated that he was still unable to lift more than a few pounds, because he knew she would wake up sore in the morning. He kissed her forehead and left her apartment, before making the short drive to his own. He parked his car, completely distraught. He had no idea what to do. His steps grew heavy as he made his way up the stairs to his room. He was unlocking his door and if it weren’t for the clearing of their throat, he would’ve missed it. He looked down to find none other than Stephanie sitting hunched against the wall of his apartment.

He took in her tear stained face and saw the desperation in her face. She looked so small and defeated from her position on the floor. He squatted down to be eye level with her.

“Steph? Where’ve you been? What’s going on?”

She shook her head, signifying she didn’t want to talk.

He sighed in defeat and reached both of his hands out, offering to help her off the floor. She bit her lip in contemplation, before untucking her folded arms and grabbing his hands. He helped her off the floor and opened the door to his apartment, gesturing for her to enter before him.

She walked in slowly, still feeling a bit odd about being there. She didn’t even know where he lived until she looked it up earlier in the day. She had nowhere else to go. Even though she didn’t exactly think so highly of him at the moment, she had this feeling in her gut that she could trust him with this.

She made her way over to the couch as Halvo walked in, and set his keys on the credenza by the door. He gave her a small smile as he passed her, going to the kitchen to make them both a cup of tea. He filled the kettle with water, and turned on the stove. He pulled out a couple mugs from the cabinet and set the tea bags in each of their mugs while the water warmed up. Luckily, the water didn’t take long to boil, and he poured the scalding water in their mugs so the tea could start steeping.

He walked in the living room carrying the mugs with him, and set them on the coffee table. He sat in the chair next to the couch so she wouldn’t feel uncomfortable. He wouldn’t start the conversation, but decided instead to let her speak. Stephanie wasn’t like Chaney in the sense that he could get her to break as easily. Part of that was due to how little he knew Stephanie in comparison to Chaney. The other part of that was he could tell she had walls built up that she didn’t let down easily. He hadn’t been around her long, but he could tell she was troubled. He had hoped that John would be good for her, and he prayed it wasn’t relevant to him. He’d deck John if it was.

She finally spoke up after a few minutes, setting her mug on the coffee table in front of her and staring Halvo in the eyes until he was looking back at her.

“Look, I know I went off the grid for a couple days, but I needed to get away. I don’t want to worry anyone, but right now, no one else but you can know I’m here.”

Halvo was about to speak, but she cut him off, before he could say anything.

“That includes Chaney. I know she’s one of my best friends, and one of yours, too, but she can’t know. This whole thing will be ruined if anyone but you finds out of my whereabouts.”

“Ok…but you can’t stay here forever…I mean, eventually people are going to come looking for you and will come here…”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Right now, I just need to be able to trust you not to tell anyone where I am or that you’ve seen me.”

Halvo sighed, trying to figure out how to handle this.

“Halvo, look, I know it’s going to be difficult not running to tell Chaney anything, but I’m doing this for her. I know it seems odd, but if she finds out where I am and why I ran away, she could get into a lot of trouble.”

“If you don’t want her to find out, why are you hiding out here? You know she comes over all the time. What about work? You can’t seriously just drop work like that…”

“Let’s just say everything is worked out. I can’t tell you what’s going on, but trust me that it’s all being worked out.”

He sighed and nodded his head, not knowing what else to do.

“You have my word that I won’t tell Chaney. However, what do I tell Emily if she comes by again?”

This caused her whole demeanor to change.

“E-e-emily?” Stephanie questioned nervously.

“Yeah, she’s the reason Chaney and I found out you were missing. She stopped by Chaney’s apartment looking for you…”

“Shit,” she mumbled, “this is going to be harder than I thought.”

Halvo furrowed his eyebrows.

“I just, I don’t know what to do now if she knows. If she knows, he knows.” She said shakily, as tears threatened to spill from her eyes.

If Halvo wasn’t worried before, he certainly was now. Not knowing the nature of the situation Stephanie now found herself in, he knew she needed an unbiased third party to help her out. He realized as he sat there watching Stephanie trying to keep herself together, that his role in life was protector. He was even more convinced of that now than before. Whether it was Chaney or now Stephanie, he found himself constantly thrown into positions where he had to act to protect someone. He now is learning to embrace this new role, as it seems to be his calling.

He moved from his chair to sit next to Stephanie, and put a comforting arm around her shoulders so she knew she had a friend to help her out.

She didn’t hesitate to turn into his shoulder and hug herself to him as she cried into his shoulder.