BOND

4.

I told myself I wouldn't fall but I broke my own rule, yeah

I can't come back

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Joey dried his hair with a towel and closed the bathroom door behind him. Laying down the towel across a chair, he put on fluffy socks and walked downstairs.

The lights in the kitchen were switched on and Elena was leaning against the counter top beside the sink. She looked up as he entered and smiled, which did not end up looking half as good as it normally did because her cheeks were swelled to the brim.

Chewing rapidly and swallowing, she said, "Took an apple from the refrigerator. Hope you don't mind." She held up her right hand, showing him the half eaten fruit.

"You can take away the refrigerator if you want to and I'd barely notice," Joey rubbed his eyes softly and settled onto one of the chairs next to the counter. Practice had been brutal, States were coming up and Coach Harley had been pushing them a bit too hard.

She looked at him with furrowed eyebrows and took a bite of the apple, "I can't tell whether you're kidding or not." God, I'm hungry.

"No, seriously," he smiled at her. "The only time I come into the house is when I need to sleep. I've never entered a couple of rooms to be honest." And I don't know why I'm blabbing about it to you, but damn if your eyes aren't the most surreal thing I've ever seen.

Her expression was incredulous, not used to the unplanned way he seemed to be getting through life by, "How do you live in a place for years and not know about it?"

Now Joey looked skeptical, "How do you know I've lived here for years?"

Elena did not speak again until she'd finished the last two bites of the apple, thrown the remains and washed her hands in the sink. "I assumed you would have. You don't look like in the process of moving in, and trust me," she laughed. "I would know."

"You're observant," he said, smirking ever so slightly. I don't do well with observant.

She shrugged, resting her forearms on the table between them, "I've had the time to hone my skills."

He looked confused so she continued, "People hog me often but I'm mostly alone all of the time. You see things."

"How are you lonely?" he leaned back, propping up his legs against the side of the counter. Two days she had been at the school and it seemed like everybody had had the chance to talk to her. Either she worked her way around well or didn't turn down anybody.

But then again she was a multi millionaire with a huge social media presence, at least that was what Alex and Mark had been telling him, so she had to have better than average people skills.

"Aren't you?" she smiled back, clearing his mind of the tiniest ebbs of coherent thought. Way to go.

Just as quickly as he had gone blank, he pushed away his disbelief at the forwardness. "You think I'm lonely?"

"Are you going to tell me you're not?" she kept his gaze, convinced that he was used to people looking away as his eyes flashed with confusion.

He wasn't saying anything so she went on, "I'm not saying you're lonely, I'm saying you maybe were once." 

Joey ran his eyes over her sympathetic, understanding smile to the way her eyes shone as light reflected off of them. Extracting himself before he could drown in them, that's what it felt like anyway, he said, "That once is long gone."