Why are you here?

Just Shut Up

AN: Just as a warning, I'm starting school again tomorrow so updates on stories will become less frequent. I'm going to try for at least one chapter per week, so let's hope I can keep up with that.

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Radley didn't speak to her. He didn't look at her, save for a cautious glance thrown her way as he made his way across the living room and into another room off to the left. He didn't want to be near her at all. Radlynn was left sitting alone in his living room all day, idly paging through the books on the large bookshelf next to the TV.

"Maybe I overstepped earlier." She thought as she searched through his fridge for something she could have for lunch. Radley hadn't left the room for hours now, so she just hoped he had something she liked. "I'm sleeping on his couch and eating his food when we don't even know each other that well," yeah, she was definitely being invasive. "This hasn't been my smartest idea." She exhaled in thought and furrowed her brows. "Maybe I can make it up to him?"

Radley was almost completely zoned out when someone knocked on the door to his workshop. He glanced up at the noise and adjusted his glasses. "Radley?" Oh right, Radlynn was still here. Part of him wanted to yell at her, and the rest wanted her to just go away again. "I um- made you a sandwich, since you didn't come out for lunch." He frowned.

"Radley?" Maybe he was still mad at her. She backed away from the door. Maybe if she just left the sandwich out he'd eat it eventually or-

The door opened a crack, letting her see maybe half of his face. Radlynn looked up at him. "I thought you'd get hungry." She murmured quickly. "And I- felt bad about earlier so-" he sighed.

"It's fine." He opened the door a bit more, and held out a hand. "...That was nice of you." Radlynn handed over the plate. She smiled a bit.

"Don't overwork yourself." She added before he closed the door. Radlynn took a few steps backwards before turning around. That went better than she expected it to.

He sat down at his workbench again and placed the plate down with a light clink. Radley frowned. She genuinely cared about him, and she was really nice. He took a bite from the sandwich and eyed the door. Maybe she wasn't so bad. If she cared about him enough to make him something to eat, she couldn't be that bad at all, right? Maybe she genuinely wanted to be his friend.

"Or maybe she's just scared of you." The voice in the back of his mind suggested. He frowned. "She just likes the idea of you. She just wants the villain, not you." He pushed the plate away and rubbed at his face tiredly. "She doesn't like you."

Radley grabbed the notebook he'd been looking through and sighed. He really wasn't in the mood for this, but he couldn't really ignore the voice considering it was inside his mind.

"She said she likes you because of your inventions." He paged through the notebook silently. "She thinks you're strong, but you're not, are you?" He wasn't even focusing on what he was reading. "Did you really think somebody would like you?" He abruptly shut the notebook and exhaled tiredly.

"Shut up." He muttered. "Just shut up."