All My Tears

Chapter Three

"You live here?" His question washed through her, and Namine watched as Ren's brows furrowed. "They didn't tell me that."

"They?" Namine asked shyly. "The others you mean?"

"Yeah," Ren looked away from her and pulled the front door open, stepping aside to let her into the building.

"Thank you," she said, almost too quietly for him to hear. Namine headed through the door and toward the elevator and couldn't help but feel his presence behind her the entire way. Her muscles began to jump and her heart started to skip as she pressed her finger into the call button, and found him waiting there beside her.

"They only said they knew a place I'd be able to stay on short notice. Do you all live here?"

"No," Namine shook her head. "Just me."

Namine thought she heard him whisper something under his breath but she couldn't make it out, nor could she even tell if it had been her imagination.

Uncomfortable silence filled the elevator as it rose to the third floor, and Namine nerves prickled as she realized that Ren hadn't selected a floor of his own.

Is this some kind of trap? Should I be running? Her thoughts began to race as she hoped her gut was wrong. Why would he want to take her out? What would that gain him?

Namine held a hand over her mouth as she realized that he may have a good reason. She'd revealed that she may be able to peak at his memories, maybe that was enough for him to need her out of the picture. What if he needed his memories guarded so that he could ruin the peace that everyone had fought so hard for?

The elevator dinged and the door opened. Namine tried her best to remain calm as she stepped out and heard his footsteps behind her. "Are you just following me?" She asked shyly without looking at him.

"Not intentionally," he sounded genuine enough, though annoyed at the same time. "Same floor I guess," he reached into his pocket and produced a key with several numbers stamped into it. "Floor three, room thirteen," he mumbled and Namine's heart jumped.

"Thirteen?" She sucked in a breath and stopped. "But I'm fourteen!" Her breaths were sharp. Slowly she came to realize that just the other day she'd heard a big commotion through her thin walls and the following day had been nothing but the noise of furniture scraping the floors and boxes being stacked. "Ugh, my neighbors just moved out," she sighed softly. "I guess it makes sense."

They turned left down another hallway and she went to her door, jamming her key into it as her shoulders sagged.

"I'm sure they suggested this so that one of you could keep an eye on me," Ren sighed. "It makes sense to do."

"You're not mad at them?" She asked, surprised.

"It's hard to trust someone who shows up out of nowhere, wields the darkness and won't share their past. I get it," he shrugged slightly and Namine met his brilliant red eyes with her own for just a moment, becoming shockingly lost in them in that brief glance.

"I'm not gonna spy on you," she said finally, feeling a little disgusted with the idea. "I don't like that they thought I would. That said, the walls are pretty thin, so I'm sorry if I hear anything."

"Thanks for the warning," he cleared his throat and yanked his vision away from her, Namine almost feeling disappointed somehow by the force he'd turned his head with. She watched Ren unlock his door and look inside his new apartment and she was about to head inside her own when she noticed he wasn't moving inside.

"Everything okay?"

He hesitated, and Namine was about to peek around the distance between their doors to see what had him so stunned but as she was moving he finally stepped forward, blocking any view she could've had.