= Sarah POV =
We pulled into the apartment complex car park in silence. We got out and walked to the lift quietly, Chris with her arms folded while I held on tightly to Heather's purse. I was all nervous and on edge. Chris was the last person who I should be alone with right now, but I just couldn't leave her, I needed to know that she was ok.
We reached her floor and got to her door. As she searched her pockets for her keys, I started to have second thoughts. If this was what Chris looked like on the outside, what was the state of her apartment?
Chris suddenly straightened up as if she had heard me ask the question out loud.
"Umm, you should be warned, I haven't really been…taking care of the place…and I haven't let anyone come in…since you left," Chris said as she finally found her keys in her jeans pocket and pulled it out unlocking the door and kicking off her shoes before turning on the light.
As I walked in, I was shocked. It was as if she had been robbed. There were broken things everywhere. Her T.V. was smashed, bar stools were missing legs, the curtains were on the floor, it was just a mess. I walked in further to look at the kitchen, and it was just broken dishes everywhere. There was a pile of bloody napkins, which I guess was because she had cut herself on something at some point, and she tried to clean up the blood but then just dumped the napkins on the counters and let it be.
I walked over to the bathroom and saw hair, all over the floor. This must have been from when she chopped off her hair, which explained why it was so jagged and patchy. In the club light, it looked cool, but in the neon light of the living room, it looked rough, like she had done it in a hurry.
Chris picked her way through the mess to sit down on the couch.
"I'm calling housekeeping" I said and took out my phone.
"No, just…you're room is fine. I didn't go in, I swear, you told me not to. It's exactly as you left it" Chris said, getting up to gingerly walk over to me.
"So what, you've been sleeping over there, on the couch?" I asked, pocketing my phone before she tried to confiscate it.
Chris stopped midway and then sighed, looking down at her feet.
"Yeah well, I kind of broke the bed" she said.
I marched back to the front door and put back on my boots. There was no way I would be able to cross the room covered in shattered glass and wooden pieces without shoes at this point.
Then I walked past Chris, ignoring her protest, and looked at the bed with my own eyes. Broken was not really the right word. Smashed to pieces was more appropriate. It looked like she had taken a bat to it, and beaten it until there was broken pieces of wood everywhere.
I walked out to find Chris had returned to the couch, her head in her hands.
I went over to her and grabbed her by the forearm.
"Come on, you need to get some sleep," I said, dragging her off the couch.
"Where, I can't sleep in there, the bed is gone," She gasped, pulling away from me.
"Do you want me to leave again? I'll go, I'll walk out that door right now," I snapped, crossing my arms. I was doing everything I could to now scream, or cry, or shake her…but I wanted so badly to just shake her and tell her never to do this again!
Chris looked up at me and sighed. She stood up reluctantly. I took her hand and led her gingerly through the cleaner parts of her apartment until we were standing in front of my room.
I pushed open the door and sighed. She was telling the truth, it was exactly as I had left it. I walked inside and tried to pull her along, but she stopped at the door, refusing to come in.
"Sarah, I fucked up. I lied to you, I made a mess of things. You said that I couldn't come in, and I'm not going to go in, I swear, I left you and your stuff alone this time, honest," Chris said dejectedly, her eyes firmly on the ground.
I dropped my bag, reached up and wrapped my arms around Chris' neck. I had never done this before, because Chris had always bent down towards me. She had always made it easy for me. Now that I was reached out towards her, I found that if I wasn't wearing platform boots, it was really hard to close the distance. Nevertheless, I tried.
I pulled Chris' face down towards mine. Her breath still rank with cigarette after taste and beer. I ignored it and kissed her straight on the lips.
At first, Chris stood still, rigid as a stick. Then she relaxed, her tongue darting out, her hands started roaming, and she leaned deeply into me, holding me. I parted my lips, letting her in to explore me tentatively with her tongue as she held me close to her chest.
As she continued to kiss me deeply, I stepped backwards, bit by bit, until we were well in the middle of my room.
I broke away from the kiss and pushed Chris back, who easily let go of me, panting her eyes blurry as if she was off somewhere in her mind.
I dragged her over to my bed and sat her down, pulling off her jacket. There were cuts and bruises all over her arms, probably from living in this danger zone of an apartment, and as I pulled off her socks, I could see more cuts all over her feet, from probably stepping on glass and a sharp piece of wood.
"From now on, you're always allowed in here, ok?" I said, sitting down on the bed and stroking Chris' face,
"Allowed in here?" Chris repeated, then sat up, the reality of being in my room hitting her.
"No, I-" Chris started, but I hushed her.
"Calm down, it's ok. You need to sleep. You're clearly not thinking straight. No sane person can survive for weeks without rest," I said, grabbing her hands in mine and pressing them close to my chest, "I told you, you could go get my things from Heather's place in the morning because I'm staying here, with you, remember?" I asked, gently pressing her back down into the sheets.
"Promise you won't go." Chris said, grasping my hand in hers " Promise when I wake up, you won't be gone again.
I squeezed her hand in mine and smiled "I promise," I said and smiled.
Chris' eye stayed on my face for a long time. I reached out and gently stroked her hair, smiling as her hands clutched onto mine, refusing to let go. She seemed like she was just trying to memorize me repeatedly, her eyes moving slowly and languidly from the top of my head down to my neck.
I remained quiet and silent, letting her take it all in while continuing to stroke her hair. After some time, Chris' eyes slowly started to flutter close, and a soft snore could be heard as she drifted off to sleep.