Wasted

Lauren walked past Voight, who held the door for her, and into the comfortably sized home with a gratified smile. It was beautifully decorated, she noted, the most prominent color was a deep, chocolate brown. Tan curtains draped over each window gracefully, lightly touching the soft carpeted floor.

"Your house is beautiful," she complimented.

He gave her an appreciative nod, watching her move around the room. "My wife loved to decorate." Lauren's eyebrows shot up the word 'loved', but calmly refrained from questioning him about it and simply continued to take in her surroundings. He placed his hand on her back to guide her, "C'mon, I'll show you the room."

He led her down the hallway, his boots softy thudding against the floor, to the third door on the right. She was surprised, when he opened the door, to find a very feminine room- one that looked to belong to a teenage girl. The walls were lilac colored, set off by the plum comforter on the white wooden bed, an empty cork board hung just over the headboard.

"It's lovely," she told him as she fully entered the room. "Do you have a daughter?"

"Yeah," was his simply reply. She watched as he ran his hand lightly over the wall before he glanced to her. "Make yourself comfortable, and don't hesitate about going into the kitchen to eat." His head bobbed slightly at the end of his sentence, and his eyes were stern, "I know how you girls are."

She grinned, "Okay." He turned to leave but she quickly spoke up, halting him. "Hank?"

"Yeah?"

She hesitated for a moment, "Thank you, truly. How can I ever repay you?"

He shook his head and replied, "Bathroom's straight across the hall, use it when you need it."

After she unpacked her belongings, she indulged in a sandwich she made quickly. Her curiosity got the best of her, and she decided to wander around the house, taking in the beautiful paintings that adorned each wall. The letters 'EML' were scrawled in the corner of some, piping some questions in Lauren's mind.

When she finished her own personal tour of the house, she decided she'd take a quick shower and a nap before she called her sister. She gathered her clothes and headed off to the bathroom.



Justin pulled the car into the garage and silently entered his childhood home, greeted by the scent of lavender wafting in the air. Hurriedly, he marched down the hall- stopping when he heard the sound of someone shuffling around in the bathroom. The sound of water falling was unmistakably the shower, he swallowed and pondered the only question in his mind-

What kind of thief takes a shower in the middle of a raid?

He shrugged out of his jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, ready to take on anyone behind the door. Quickly, he kicked the door open, his fists raised to block his face, a handy trick he had learned during his time in the military. His eyes scanned the room, and was pleasantly surprised to see a girl's head peeking out from behind the shower curtain, hastily searching for her towel.

"What the hell?!" Lauren thundered as water dripped from her nose onto the floor. She kept the shower curtain pulled around her as she reach for a towel. She pat her face dry, and quickly stepped further into the shower when she opened them.

Justin dropped his hands to his sides and shot her a lazy grin. "Sorry 'bout that," he nodded to the door, "thought you were a robber."

Her face and neck were flushed scarlet, her hands gripped the fabric around her tightly. "Well, now that you've established that I'm not, do you mind," one of her brows arched high above her green eyes as she waited for him to move.

He raised his hands in defense, backing out into the hallway with a smirk. "Sorry."



Lauren was frozen after Justin left the room; she simply stood under the running water until the temperature began to drop. Finally, when she built the courage she needed to move, she stepped out of the tub and onto the floor. She quickly dried herself and dressed in her pajamas.

She pulled a black t-shirt over her head, unmatched to the blue plaid bottoms she had on, and towel dried her hair. Combing through the tangles, she stared at herself in the mirror, "Why me?" she whispered with a slight smile, embarrassed at the fact that the handsome stranger practically saw her naked.

She brushed her teeth and, with a deep breath, ventured out into the hallway. She moved into the room she'd been assigned to and turned her phone on.

6 missed calls.

She scrolled through the numbers, satisfied to see that most of them had came from Ella- most of them. She frowned as she deleted the unwanted number, and called her sister.

Ella's breathless answer made Lauren grin. "Hey Laurie, what's goin' on? I called you, like, a hundred times!"

"I'm sorry, I fell asleep after we got off the phone."

"Sleepy head," Ella teased. "That's where I'm headed, after I get these rascals to bed." Lauren laughed when heard the squealing laughter of her niece and nephew.

"Tell them I love them," she said quietly. "El, I think I might go to bed, I have an early morning tomorrow."

"Alright, honey. I'll talk to ya tomorrow, okay?"

She fell back onto the bed and stretched her limbs with a sigh-finally the nightmare of a day was coming to and end. A grin crossed her lips, in spite of her warning from Voight, as she remembered Justin's eyes roaming over her. She burrowed underneath the thick comforter, wrapping it around her snugly.

I don't think I'll be having any nightmares tonight.