Patience

Two

"You're not like most girls I've met, you know," Axl told me as he was unlocking the door of his apartment.

I furrowed my brow at that statement. He barely knew me. "How so?" I questioned as he opened the door and let me in. He flipped on the light and we were in a small kitchen and living room area.

"Well, for one, I've never met a girl the way I just met you. And two, girls are normally all over me. Especially when I ask if they need a place to stay. The answer is always yes. You, on the other hand, you seem sort of different. Like you know that you're your own person and you don't need someone to take care of you. And you put up a fight. Most girls don't do that," He told me.

"I am my own person and I don't need anyone to take care of me. I don't even know why I came here," I said, rolling my eyes.

"It's because you really need some help at the moment. But that's fine. We all need someone to help us out every now and then. That's why we have friends and we fall in love and shit," He said.

Was he really trying to spark some existential conversations at this hour? I just tried to end my life, and now I'm in a stranger's home.

"Right," I said sarcastically, "Friends to stab you in the back and leave you behind and whoever you fall in love with just hurts you and breaks your heart when you need them the most."

"That's not love, doll. You're only twenty-two. You just haven't found it, yet," He told me.

"And you have?" I asked and Axl was silent, "How old are you?"

"Twenty-five," He said plainly.

"So, have you found love?" I asked him.

"Maybe. I'm not sure yet," He said as a faint smirk appeared on his lips.

I was about to ask him who, but then I realized what he was doing. "You're disgusting," I told him, running my hand through my hair.

"Well, I'll go get you a pillow and blanket, and then the sofa is all yours," He said. I didn't want to admit it, but I was grateful for what he was doing.

"Could you direct me to your bathroom?" I asked him, trying to be polite.

"Follow me," He said. He took me down the only hallway in the apartment and there were three doors. A bathroom, closet, and his room.

"Here's the bathroom," He showed me, pushing the door open and flicking the bathroom light on, "If you need anything, my room is here." He pointed to the door across the hallway.

"Okay," I said with a nod. I slipped into the bathroom. I shut the door and locked it.

I turned to the mirror and studied the purple and blue bruise below my eye and sighed. I touched it, which made me wince at the pain. It was swollen. I sighed and washed my hands and then washed my face.

I turned off the sink and opened the door. I turned out the light and went back down the hallway to the couch. I kicked off my Chuck Taylors and set them beside the couch. Axl was filling up a cup with water in the small kitchen area while I crawled underneath the quilt Axl put on the sofa for me.

"Here's some water for you, lovely Lucy," He said, putting the cup on the coffee table beside me. I just looked at it, not speaking.

After a moment of silence, Axl spoke up. "Lucy," he said, "Can I ask you a question?"

I grabbed the cup and took a sip of the water and put it back down on the coffee table, waiting for him to ask.

"How did you get the bruise?" He inquired.

"What bruise?" I asked, knowing that he could see it. I'm not sure why I said it, but I just didn't want to talk about it, especially not with him.

"Lucy, seriously," He said softly, "What happened?"

I shook my head. "It doesn't matter. It's just a bruise. They go away and I don't know you well enough to tell you," I said, looking down at the floor. I was avoiding eye contact with him. I didn't want him to see the tears forming in my eyes. I took another sip of the water to push down the lump forming in my throat.

"See, if it was just you running into a door or some shit you would've told me, but someone did this to you, didn't they?" He asked.

"Go to bed, Axl. It doesn't matter," I said, turning away from him.

"Fine," He said and I listened as he walked out of the room.

I sighed, looking behind me. Sure enough, he was gone. Maybe I should have just told him. I took another sip of water and set it down before closing my eyes and settling in. I adjusted the pillow, then tossed and turned a few times before finally going to sleep.