As I Collide, I See I Am a Paradox // White Collar

TWO

I don't know you,
And you don't know me.
It is this that brings us together.

~

The two returned to Neal's apartment afterwards. Walking inside, Neal shrugs his jacket off his shoulders and hangs it on his coat rack. He sends Kira a satisfied smile, "Well, I think that went pretty well." Kira doesn't answer him. She pulls her jacket off and hangs it up and then sits down at his poor excuse of a table. His gaze lingers on her, "What do you think?"

Her head snaps up in surprise, "What? Yeah. I think so, too." She nods and looks down.

Neal squints at her confusedly. He steps towards her, loosening his bow tie in the process, "Ever since dinner, you've been acting off." He sits down across from her, "What's going on?"

"Nothing." Kira wastes no time to answer.

"You were distracted half the time we were there. That wasn't nothing. If someone made us because you weren't focused—"

"—I was focused." She cuts him off in a slight annoyance. Neal begins to say something, but cuts himself off to give her a pointed look.

Kira rolls her eyes, "I was. It's just that..." She sighs, "...I saw someone there that recognized me as someone else." Neal nods in realization, "He knew me as Aria. And it could have posed a problem, but I dealt with it."

"Is that why you were upset?"

Kira avoids his gaze defeatedly, answering in a quiet murmur, "Yes." She clears her throat, "If I'm being honest, I actually only met him yesterday. He had nice eyes. We danced. I saw him at the dinner today and now he thinks I have a fiancé."

Neal nods slowly, "Oh. Uh, sorry." Kira chuckles slightly, nodding slowly. Neal stands and turns around, pulling his bow tie off his neck, "Uh, not to be rude, but it's kind of late. Thank you for posing as my fake fiancée, though." He sends her a smile.

Kira chuckles, "Yeah. You know, I did just fly from Seattle this morning. I actually have no where to go, so." Her eyes drift downward to her hands.

Neal pauses, "Oh. Uh, well, if you want to stay here—"

Kira cringes slightly, "—I hope you have another mattress."

Neal lets out a small laugh, "Uh, no. I, uh, I don't. We can—"

"—share?"

Neal shrugs, "If you don't want to, I can sleep on the floor."

"No." Kira is quick to protest, "Uh, sharing is fine." She nods slightly with a bit of a cringe. Her eyes drift to the lone twin mattress laying on the ground. She stands and steps over to her luggages sitting by the wall. Kira rolls them to the left side of the bed and opens the one with her pajamas. She pulls out her necessary items and asks, "I assume you have a bathroom?" She lifts her head to look at him. He turns around to face her, making her eyebrows raise at his current state of clothing. He had already unbuttoned and removed his shirt. "Yeah." Neal answers and points down the hall, "Down the hall, first door to your left."

Kira has to force her stare off his chest as she stands and turns to walk towards the bathroom. It takes nothing but a few seconds for her to change from her dress and heels and into a comfortable pair of pajamas and socks. Kira returns carrying her dress and heels in her hands. After placing them back in her luggage, she takes a glance at the twin-sized mattress laying bare on the floor. Neal walks up from the hall carrying a blanket. Two pillows were stuffed under his arms. Kira watches as he sets up the mattress for them with no shirt on, just wearing pajama pants. Her eyes watched his muscles and every time they flexed when he pulled the blanket all around the mattress. When she sees him just fix one blanket on the mattress, her expression falls, "You don't have another blanket?"