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two

the two walked to chastity's car in silence, the only noises around them coming from the parkinglot. cars drove by, their tires sloshing through puddles that would be ice by morning. People chatted and talked around them, mothers scolded kids for running in front of cars. 

"this is your car?" harry asked, staring at the red toyota camry that the pair had stopped at. chastity chuckled and popped the trunk, beginning to place her items inside. 

"i would hope so," she said. "if not, i'm giving a hundred and eighty dollars worth of food away."

harry smiled and chuckled at that, watching the way she easily lifted bag after bag of food into the trunk. she handles each bag with ease and care, and harry notes that she must work out because most girls in new york city would need help lifting more than their purses.  

"would you like some help?" harry offered, feeling like a bit of an idiot. he didn't have a car - he walked everywhere - and his friend had dropped him off at the wallmart and then left. harry had planned on walking home, and now he has to ask for a ride. it was embarrassing.

he figured if he helped her out she'd say yes and not think it was creepy.

"not right now," chastity smiled, winking at him. "but i'll need your help carrying them up to my apartment."

harry raised an eyebrow at her, leaning aganst her car gingerly. he wanted to impress her, for a reason that he didn't quite understand, and she seemed like the type of girl who wouldn't go for a guy like him. 

"twizzler?"

was that really his best pick up line? harry thought briefly for a moment and nodded mentally to himself. yeah, that was the best he had. 

"maybe later," chastity smiled again, putting the last bag into the trunk. she pushes the cart across the parking lot toward the cart corral. it misses by ten feet and smacks into a black pickup truck which alerts the alarm. the emergency lights flash and horns go off, alerting everyone within a five mile radius of what has happened. "do you have a car?"

"nope," harry said, staring wide-eyed at the flashing pickup. that's a big ass car, and it's probably driven by a big ass man with a lot of tattoos.

"good," chastity slams the trunk shut. "get in."

the windows were open as the two sped along down the highway, the drizzling rain occasionally smacking harry straight in the eye. he didn't complain, though, because he was the happiest he'd been in a while and he didn't want it to end. the radio was on and turned up to eleven with katy perry singing about how she's a dark horse and all that jazz.

"so, where do you live?" harry asked, afraid of having a long walk once the movie was over. if it was a couple of blocks it wouldn't be so bad, but new york is a huge ass city. 

"bloomington apartments," chastity replied, switching lanes in favor of exit 4B toward downtown manhattan. "on seventh ave. third floor. you?"

"bloomington apartments," harry felt this weird bubbling sensation in the pit of his stomach at her words. "on seventh ave. fifth floor."

the two turned and smiled at each other before chastity put her eyes back on the road. the rest of the drive was comfortably silent, as the pair felt no need to converse further. it was nothing more than a coincidence that they lived in the same apartment building and didn't know it, nothing else. 

(neither believed in fate, or love, or anything like that. maybe it was because chastity was a publicist and read too many romance novels, or maybe it was because harry had gotten his heart broken too many times to count. either way it was simply a happy coincidence that harry wouldn't have far to walk home when the movie was done, only a few flights of stairs.)

within twenty minutes harry and chastity had parked her car in the apartment building's parking grarage and carried all of her groceries upstairs. harry set his coke and twizzlers down on the counter before beginning to put everything away. 

"i'm going to go get changed into something more comfortable," chastity said, reaching up to the clip in her hair. "you can head upstairs to your apartment and change if you'd like."

harry watched in fascination as she easily undid her hair, soft blonde waves falling over her shoulders as if they'd been put there by a professional stylist. she ran her fingers through the waves, fluffing the loose ringlets and getting out stray knots. 

"i'm fine," harry said, shaking his head. "most of the time i fall asleep in my jeans anyway."

chastity nodded and smiled before disappearing around the corner and into her bedroom. harry continued to put away the groceries, fighting to ignore the fact that the most intriguing girl he'd ever met was a few feet away, no doubt naked.

what did he get himself into?