𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐞?

5.

I slowly walked up the dark concrete steps to Rio's apartment complex, my nerves were at an all time high and even that was an understatement. I couldn't prevent my thoughts from racing inside of my head, I didn't know what was going to happen and it terrified me. I love Rio, I have become confident that he would never do anything to harm me again but for some reason I felt unsure. Rio wanted to help me and all that I needed to do was accept his help. I hesitantly opened the door and pressed a button that would alert Rio of my arrival, the buzzing sound of the door unlocking quickly traveled to my ears.

After walking up two flights of stairs, I finally reached the door of his apartment. I took one last deep breath before knocking, I needed to prepare myself for the unknown.The door opened swiftly after my knuckles came in contact with the wooden door. I haven't seen Rio in weeks, but as soon as I saw him again all of my worries flew away. I never imagined that I could experience both the feeling of safety and discomfort until I met him. Our friendship was problematic because of our past, but we still loved each other platonically despite it all. In my five years of knowing Rio, all that he ever was to me was a friend, and I thank god for him everyday.

"Lucie, I've missed you" Rio smiles as he stands in his doorway, he extended his hand in order to invite me inside and I did exactly that.

"I've missed you too" I smiled back at him, walking towards the couch as I removed my jacket from my body. "What's been going on?" I asked him casually, I still was unsure as to why he had wanted to see me so suddenly.

"Sit" Rio softly ordered me, his assertiveness made my body shiver in confusion. I didn't ask any further questions, instead I sat myself down onto his four thousand dollar couch and nodded.

Rio didn't say another word for at least two minutes, he just walked away from the doorway after closing the door. He then went into the kitchen and grasped onto a glass of what looked to be filled with some sort of alcohol. Rio was stressed, it didn't take a genius to recognize it, he also wasn't the best at hiding it either. He suddenly moved towards a lounge chair that was positioned in front of the couch, right across from where I was sitting. He allowed a long sigh to fall from his lips as his body collided with the chair, his sigh only made my nerves grow larger.

"Lucie, the both of us are dealing with stressful situations right now" Rio began, he sipped his drink slowly before placing the glass down onto the coffee table. "But I think that we can both be of use to one another, I can see how badly you are hurting and I just may be able to fix it" He announced, causing my eyebrows to raise.

"How so?" I asked genuinely, I didn't think that Rio could list a single thing that would help me out right now. I was struggling in more ways than one, so I couldn't grasp onto what he meant.

"You can barely afford your rent, you're living paycheck to paycheck, and you're risking your safety while walking home alone at night" Rio began, listing all of the things that were currently weighing on my mind. "I have a condominium about ten minutes from here, and it can be all yours under one condition" He nodded his head, as soon as those words left his mouth I felt as if I had been hit by a damn train.