Relentless Love (sequel)

Chapter 2- Until it's not.

A week later..

"Freddy, will you hand me that lamp there?" Layla politely asks, crouched at the side table next to their living room in their apartment.

Freddy lifts his head from his phone, sighing before he shoves himself past a couple of now-empty boxes before he reaches for the lamp.

Layla doesn't even notice the sigh, seeing as she's so amused by how quickly she managed to unpack in the last two weeks, that this lamp is the final touch to their new apartment.

They had been living on the outskirts of London for a while, their landlord was always fussy about too many things eventually Layla just convinced Freddy to move to the city center, where his job as a bartender is more accessible and Layla could start finding a new job that pleases her more than all the other roles she had whilst trying to figure it out.

Freddy lazily drags his legs towards her, not even blinking an eye at her whilst he stretches his arm out to hand it to her, she quickly grabs it and whispers a small thank you before propping it up on the center of the mini table and plugs it into the extension chord.

Layla is a strong believer in no headlights, she's all about the small side lamps that create a cosier and more inviting atmosphere. I mean, it's not like she has many friends that she can invite over, in fact, she has none. As for Freddy, he'll go out with his work friends for drinks at clubs and such, despite Layla's dislike for it, he still does it without a care in the world.

Layla lost contact with a lot of her old high school friends when she went to university where she became acquaintances but nothing more with her flatmates and that was about it, they'd go out and do all the stuff but she never considered them as close as she considered Elle.

She and Elle will always try and meet up when they're both back home and visiting family, although it does get quite hard to free up their schedules especially with Layla living in the south for over five years now.

Layla finds herself only doing so much during the day, reading trendy romance books that stock up until Freddy complains that she's spending too much money on them, and dressing up to go for brunch alone at her nearest café. She hasn't had much time to do any of that stuff since they moved to their new apartment two weeks ago, she hasn't been exploring at all, I mean, she already knows her way around London, but there are tons of cool alleyways she hasn't found herself stumbling across yet.

Layla gets up and off the fluffy carpet on the floor, taking a couple of steps back to see the scenery, spinning around the living room to be faced with the stocked-up kitchen and their bedroom door ajar revealing the fresh bed sheets and vine leaves hanging from the walls.

She smiles pleasurably at the scenery, her hands attached to her hips before her eyes fall onto Freddy, who stands still, his neck tilted down to his phone, his eyes lit up a bright white.

She frowns, "And? Do you like it?" She holds a long and hard stare directly into him, and almost past him, burning holes of disappointment right into his chest. Layla has non-stop been exasperated by moving into a new environment, but Freddy just doesn't ever seem to share those feelings with her, he doesn't ever seem to feel things with her at the same time, and any variant of emotion almost always lacks with him, and it's alright if that's just the way he is but it isn't. Layla had to understand after a while, that maybe he is comfortable with her so he doesn't put in the small effort of looking up and acknowledging all the time she put into the apartment they are standing in right now.

He picks his head up, a glimpse of hope gnawing at Layla before his lips part, "I'm gonna go sign up to that gym." He hastily speaks, and before Layla can even respond or ask to go along with him, he's getting his keys, zipping his coat, and you'd think he would pocket his phone but no, it stays clutched in his hand, his eyes scanning it endlessly.