Running Through Rivers

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen - Cassidy's POV

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The car slowed down as we approached a tall block of apartments, just around the corner from the main high street. We turned down the side of the building, to an undercover carpark, inching under the metal grate at the entrance.

Alfie parked the car and we got out, the rain outside echoing around the otherwise-silent basement. I retrieved my sodden blazer from the floor of the car and shut my door as Alfie walked around to my side.

He motioned forward with his head, "Come on, the lift is this way."

I followed him towards the doors at the back of the room, pulling his jacket tighter around my shoulders as he pushed a button on the wall and the doors slid open. We stepped inside and soon we were nine floors up, stepping out into a brightly-lit hallway. Alfie pulled a key out of his back pocket as we approached a door on the right, the number 267 engraved into the dark wood. He quickly unlocked it and stepped to the side, holding the door open for me. I ducked under his arm and stepped through, into the flat.

"Wow."

I had to admit, it was nicer than I expected. Most of the apartments around here were either affordable but disgusting, or really nice but with a huge price tag to match. Alfie's was somewhere in between. It had a big kitchen to one side, with an open lounge area and several doors leading off from a short hallway, but at the same time you could see he wasn't rich. The decor wasn't fancy, the floor wasn't lined with fur, and there were several pizza boxes stacked up beside the rubbish bin. It was like a perfect medium.

"Alf, is that you?" A voice yelled out from the lounge area.

"Yeah, I'll be in my room." Alfie replied as he ushered me towards a door down the hallway.

"And who's your friend?" A figure was suddenly in the doorway, and Alfie turned to face him, a light blush appearing on his cheeks.

"This is Cassidy. Cassidy, meet my brother Blake."

"Hi," I smiled, slightly intimidated by the 6-foot tall guy standing before me. Mainly because he wasn't wearing a shirt.

Someone coughed behind Blake, "Oh, and I suppose I'm invisible?"

"And this is Hannah," Blake added, as a blonde haired girl stepped beside him.

"Nice to meet you," she smiled.

"You finally got a girlfriend too, little bro?" Blake smirked, hooking his arm around Alfie's neck and ruffling his hair.

Alfie's blush deepened, and I could feel my own face going red.

"We're just....friends." I stated, looking at Alfie to make sure I said the right thing. He nodded. I didn't know what we were, but I sure wasn't about to discuss it with Blake.

"Now go put a shirt on," Alfie laughed, breaking free of his older brother's grip and beginning to lead me by the small of my back.

"Be safe!" Blake called down after us.

Alfie raised his arm behind his head and flicked him off as we stopped outside a door.

"You're shivering, so go and have a shower and warm up. I'll be in my room across the hall when you're finished."

I thanked him and went into what I now knew to be the bathroom. I peeled off my soaked clothes and, after making sure the door was properly locked, I jumped into the shower. The hot water felt amazing against my frozen skin and I soon warmed up, quickly washing my hair and stepping out onto the cold bathroom tiles. I dried off and wrapped a towel around me, walking over to my clothes on the floor.....which were of course still completely drenched.