chance // chris evans a.u.

two

Briar 

The gym was not at all what she had pictured in her head. 

Briar thought she had the neighborhood pegged. The apartment she had just moved into was small and rundown, the floors creaked more often than not and the appliances were all outdated. Not that she minded, she needed a little simplicity in her life after the last few years. Her new landlord, Mr. Jones, was a little past middle aged and laughed with his whole body like her father used to, before everything happened. Mr. Jones assured her that he had four daughters, two of them around her age, and he said anything she needed would be top priority since she was living alone. 

Briar hadn't felt comfortable with someone she just met in years, especially when it came to men she didn't know, and while she wasn't ready to spill her guts to him, somehow she willed herself to put a little trust in the earnest expression and asked him if he could install new screws into all her door hinges, ones that were significantly longer and made it much harder to break down the door. She also asked if it would at all possible to install three more locks on the door to her apartment. Briar was grateful that Mr. Jones seemed to sense that the only questions that Briar wanted asked were about the details for the upgrades and not the reasoning behind them. 

Before he left, Briar spoke up once more and asked him if there were any gyms in the vicinity that offered workout classes or self defense training. Mr. Jones wrote down the address by his phone number on the paperwork he had given her for being a new tenant, reiterated that she was to call him if she needed anything at all no matter what time and told her the upgrades she had asked for would be done as soon as possible. Briar thanked him softly, letting out a breath of relief when the door to her apartment finally closed behind him, moving swiftly to lock and chain her door. 

She spent the rest of the night unpacking and settling in, unconsciously checking every window to make sure the locks worked multiple times. Briar also found herself hesitating to take her usual shower before bed, nervous about how the water would drown out any noise in the rest of the apartment. In the end, she knew she would appreciate sleeping on clean sheets after her shower, and she took a quick one, rushing through her routine and standing frozen for a few pounding heartbeats as she listened for any sign someone had gotten into her place in the ten minutes she had been in the shower. A strangled sound left her lips as she realized nothing had changed and Briar chided herself in her head as she got dressed. 

No one knows you're here. No one knows and no one can hurt you.

Briar still slept with the lights on, making a mental note to buy some fairy lights like the ones she had back at her parents house. Ones that made sure she never slept in total darkness. 

Now, she stood in front of Haven, the gym Mr. Jones had recommended, reflecting over the last couple of days and really being honestly thrown off by the building in front of her. She would call it clean, but that would be an understatement. It was immaculate. It was a stark contrast to the rest of the neighborhood, which was rundown but functional, just like her apartment. 

Briar shifted her weight back and forth, clutching the gym bag over her shoulders as she debated going inside. She looked down at her t-shirt and leggings and worn sneakers and felt incredibly nervous. Her feet were itching to take her back to the apartment, which she had only just started feeling safe in, even more so after this morning when Mr. Jones had knocked on her door with all the supplies for the upgrades he had promised. Briar had taken another leap of faith and had told him she wanted to get a work out in and try that gym he had recommended. Mr. Jones had just smiled, something in his eyes twinkling at her as she grabbed her bag and prepared to leave.

"Be sure and say hi to Chance for me, yeah? He's the fella that owns Haven," Mr. Jones told her.

Briar said that she would and slipped out of her apartment, hesitating for only a few moments before leaving. She was still trying to pull her mind out of worrying about leaving a man in her apartment. Briar told herself that it was a big step in the right direction. Towards recovery. Deep inside she knew she would spend at least an hour after she got back scouring the small space for anything out of place. After what had happened, there was no way she couldn't do that after someone new had been there.