Sophia, who art thou?

31. AMELIA

The entire drive home- no not home. Not mine at least. But I think it'll do just fine for the next month or so. Unless I get bored with Noah sooner.

I turn my head form the blurring lights in the road sometimes and look at his face. It's so normal. And human. And I suppose innocent. It almost makes me feel bad to use him like this. But desperate times call for desperate measures. Half my clothes have either been stolen or turned in to Goodwill, my own blood and flesh kicked me out and I have absolutely no other prospects for food or shelter because I might be out of a job soon. No, I will definitely be out of a job soon. Tessa told me shed fire me if I got so much as a single order wrong. I wonder how she'll react to me not showing up to work for three days. Only one word comes to mind, and ironically it's in the same sing song voice Tessa used the first time she "threatened" me. FIRED.

"What are you looking at?"

I need to take a second to realise that I've been thinking about my extremely bleak future while also somehow simultaneously memorising Noah's face.

"Ask better questions, Noah Bennett. Learn from the master. Why are you letting me stay with you? I've already messed with you once, what's to say I won't do it again?"

Noah smiles a little and then he laughs. He laughs at me. Nobody laughs at me. "Don't fucking laugh at me, Noah Bennett."

"Sorry," he says, trying to conceal his smile. At which he is failing at. Miserably.

"You sure don't look it."

"No, no. I am. Really. It's just that-"

"Answer my question."

"You're desperate."

"Excuse me?"

"I am letting you stay with me because you're desperate. Chloe."

"Chloe? Who the fuck is Chloe?"

"You?"

Oh shit. How could I forget I gave him a fake name? Shame on me. I must be getting rusty. "Oh, yeah. It's just people always call me by my middle name, so I'm not really used to it, you know?"

"And what's your middle name?"

"Umm. Its-"

"It wouldn't happen to be Amelia Celine Fontaine, would it?"

"How do you know that? Are you obsessed with me or something?"

"You come into my hospital for an overdose on drugs I gave you and you don't expect me to go looking? You don't cover your tracks as well as you might think, Chloe."

I was wrong. Noah Bennett was not gullible. If anything, he was more like me than I'd thought.

"Okay, you can stop calling me Chloe now. And as for the Sherlock adjacent investigating? I would be lying if I said I wasn't impressed."

Noah just smiles now and I think I can see a tinge of red along his cheekbones.

"I think I'm going to like you, Bennett."

"I think you're going to love me, Fontaine."

"Just drive," I smile as I turn around to look at the blurring trees, pretending not to notice him smile as he sneaks a glance at me every now and then.