Fine; I plan to leave around one. Do you want to meet at the convenience store to pick up some lunch?

You responded to the text and then turned back to your work. You had only an hour or two to go until you could escape, which you were looking forward to. Picking up lunch at a convenience store or even meeting there and going out to lunch would be fun. You began to get more and more excited, the energy pushing you even thought you half felt like you should be taking a nap on your desk.

Sounds good, I'll meet you there. Let me know if you need anything in the meantime or aren't feeling well.

You smiled at the next text that came through, and soon enough it was time to leave; you happily gathered your belongings, careful of your sore fingers, and headed to the stairwell; you wouldn't be going near the elevator any time soon. You couldn't wait to see Leo. You wanted to bounce down the stair and match your current mood but you were forced to go slow when your sore legs stated their discontent. You still had some serious bruises on them, you had found out earlier that morning, and you felt each step more than you wanted to.

“You seem to be having a hard time there; want a hand?”

You turned around suddenly as the familiar voice appeared from behind you, accompanying a warm grip on your forearm to steady you on a particularly painful step.

“N!” You exclaimed, surprised. You hadn't seen him around in a while now, and the entire issue-- unresolved, you realized-- between him and Leo had been forgotten after the elevator issue. You pulled your arm away, instead leaning on the railing; N just smiled at you kindly.

“What are you doing here?” You continued, still shocked by his appearance. “You don't--” You took a second to take in his appearance, a perfect business casual that worked well enough with the location. “You don't work here, right?” You were terrified at the thought; you got along well enough with each other, but the added tension to your life was completely unnecessary.

N chuckled, appearing to see your stress. He put his hands in his pockets, safely away from you. “No, I don't just a quick trip in to visit someone. Figured I should look the part.” He said, tugging on a loose tie. “Let me walk you out. Lunch break?”

“No,” you responded, relieved; you continued to walk down the stairs. “Leaving early today, I didn't get much sleep yesterday.”

“Oh?” N looked at you with a raised eyebrow. “Were you busy with Leo? Finally get to that point?”

You blushed and resisted a childish urge to stick out your tongue. “That's none of your business.”

N raised his hands in mock surrender. “Sorry, didn't mean to offend. Are you headed back to your apartment? I'll walk with you.”

You tried to figure out his expression, but he just smiled at you as he usually did; but wasn't he acting much nicer than he did last time? You waited long enough to respond that he looked at you questioningly.

“Oh, no, actually, I'm meeting Leo at the convenience store...”

“Leo? Oh, well, since I have a few things to pick up I'll go with you!”

You resisted to urge to put your face in your hands in exasperation. He certainly wasn't easily deterred.

You didn't want him around your boyfriend, something that you thought was easily understood given that the last time they were together he had basically jumped him, while you were in the house, no less. But you relented at the thought of his sullen form telling the story of the death of his girlfriend. You couldn't hold it against him if he wanted to love someone. You gave in with a sigh.

“Sure, why not.”

As you headed out of the building you tried to pull out your phone to send Leo a warning text, but every time you subtly began texting N would send you a look and start a fresh conversation. You give up with a sigh, knowing that there was little you can do. In the end, you stuff to your phone in your pocket. Leo would just have to be surprised. You continued to small talk with N, since it was harmless enough. It was only a few blocks to the convenience store anyway. Once there you would have to come up with an excuse to escape together, otherwise you had the feeling that N would try to accompany you all afternoon.

"What happened to your hands?"

You were jarred from your thoughts by N's poignant question; if he had mentioned it earlier or expressed any concern, you hadn't paid attention in the least. You looked down at the myriad of scrapes, a few covered by hastily put on band aids.

"Oh, nothing, I just didn't wear gloves when I was gardening the other other day."

N looked at you, obviously not really buying the story. "Gardening?"

"Yeah, at the community lot a few blocks over." You had no idea what came over you, but you felt compelled to keep the truth from him. Why it would matter, you had no idea. In fact you should have used the opportunity to brag about how much Leo had worried, how he had come running after you. You felt your gut clench at your lie; what if Leo said something?

"Huh, I didn't know there was one around; I'll have to go check it out."

"Y-yeah..." Luckily for you, there was indeed a community lot nearby. N just didn't have to know that you have never been there. You cleared your throat, looking for a new conversation. You have to talk over with Leo later why you had felt compelled to live. For now, though, it hardly mattered. It wasn't any of N's business anyway. "So, how have you been recently?"

Really, you hardly cared. You didn't want to think about it. And he been spending all of his time thinking about Leo? But, at the very least, that was a question he couldn't avoid. Conversation would have to move on.

He thought about it for moment, more than you expected them to. After a second more, he shrugged. "Pretty good. Just doing the normal routine. And how about you? Work treating you well?" You held back a sigh of relief luckily he wasn't going to hold yourself up against you. Hopefully he wouldn't even know about it. At the end of the street you could see the convenient store, granting you a fresh hope for escape.

Sorry about this chapter guys; the format is wonky and I can't seem to fix it and I wasn't super inspired to write it, which i'm sure was relatively obvious. Anyway, I promise I'll have something better up soon; thanks for your patience!