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Description
Introduction

     He was nineteen, jobless , and no one would remember his face. At least that is what the scientists thought when they followed him in the subway that night. Edward Starke was just that twenty-three, jobless and most of this family had disowned him for his lifestyle choices. Recently dumped and close to eviction he welcomed anything that would take his mind off the crap-heap his life had become. However, I don't think that being abducted  was in his realm of "possible" anythings.

     Edward put up more of a fight than the scientists thought he would, even after the large dose of Nembutal he was able to hold his own against two of them. Edward wasn't small by any means; 6 foot 4 inches, 201 pounds he was a force to be reckoned with. His lanky physique made the scientists misjudge the amount of sedative he needed and it gave Edward just the edge he needed to fight back for a while. He threw punches wildly, striking one of the men square in the jaw and clipping another in the nose. He flailed about wildly making it nearly impossible to get a firm grip on him, he kicked out his legs when he was sure of his footing or if someone had a hand on him, his screams echoed off the tiled subway walls but no one came. Finally the drugs started to kick in and Edwards head began to sway, his eyesight blurred and his reflexes became hindered. The men, now overly wary and unsure of what to make of the situation, cautiously approached Edward one more time. A quick knock to the head sent him straight to the ground. The group of men soon had Edward bound and gagged in the back of their Crown Victoria and heading the dreadful place where Edward was going to spend the next four years of his life.

I

    The days all seemed to run together in that small white bedroom Edward had become more than accustomed to. He could find his way around the room blindfolded with his legs bound. Long ago he had given up the fight, his eyes no longer had the same glow they used to, his fighting spirit drained and his want to live almost gone. He sometimes he was curious if anyone wondered where he went, if anyone missed him at all. He figured they would think he took their advice and left them and their "perfect lives" alone. The anger towards his family was still strong and he couldn't understand how anyone could turn their backs on someone, especially at a time when they were at their most vulnerable. It was lonely in his room, the only people he'd seen in the last two years had been scientists, taking his blood-work and giving him food. Sometimes he was taken down the hall to work out in a small room with a treadmill and some free-weights. This was Edward's favorite part of the endless amount of spare time he seemed to have. The endless despair he found himself in seemed to lighten when he worked out, there was less time to think when his mind was preoccupied.
     Edward woke up drenched in sweat, his mind unsure how to process the images now floating in his mind. The images he had worked years to repress, all coming back so suddenly. His silhouette was cast on the far wall of the small two bedroom apartment he shared with a girl who found his ad in the classifieds. He could hear her snoring in the next room over, or perhaps it was her boyfriend, he wasn't sure but it wasn't going to help his new found sleeplessness. He trudged to the kitchen, naked, knowing full well that no one was going to be up at this hour. It wasn't until he started the coffee that he realized the smell of coffee was more than enough to wake most people up in an apartment with intertwined AC vents. He hauled ass to his room to grab the boxers he left by the bed just as the door to his roommates bedroom opened. He slid around the corner just as Arthur, rubbing sleep from his eye, pulled himself to the kitchen to investigate the smell of freshly brewed coffee. Edward sighed as he realized how close he was to complete embarrassment, pulling his boxers up as he half-tripped out of his room. Arthur looked up to see Edward almost eat it and  couldn't help but utter a slight laugh. Edward looked up, pretending to be surprised that someone else was awake, his black hair a mess and almost completely blocking his vision. "I'm sorry if I woke you up…" Edward trailed off "I was having a bit of a hard time sleeping and thought I'd get a jump-start on my day." He still hadn't looked at the clock so he had no idea what time it actually was.
     "Nah, it was the coffee, and Vanessa's snoring. Have you heard her? She sounds like a car with a bad muffler…" Arthur was standing there in his boxers and Edward couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy towards Vanessa for nabbing herself a package such as Arthur. His eyes moved to the clock behind Arthur, who had already poured himself a mug of coffee making Edward slightly angry, he loved the first glass of coffee and he hated when someone stole it from him.

     "4:15" Edward thought to himself to get his mind back on track with his story. "Yeah, I was thinking about going out for a run, it's so much cooler in the mornings…" he trailed off hoping that would be enough for Arthur.

     "No worries, I was just stealing some of your coffee. I'm hoping it helps me sleep. I know, I know that sounds crazy, but it works sometimes. A lot better than tea I have to say, plus you make some of the best coffee."

     This made Edward blush, which in this case, was more than he could handle at the moment. "Thanks, I think my coffee's crap." he said as he tried to walk as casually as he could back to his room. "You have to get control of this Edward!" He screamed inwardly at himself as he stood in the bathroom. "Arthur is Vanessa's boyfriend. On top of that he's not into men. Face it, you can't have him no matter how badly you want him." Edward glanced at himself one more time in the mirror before going back for his coffee. The scars on his side made him cringe, painful memories of a time he'd forgotten, until this morning.

     He traced a scar absentmindedly, trying to remember how he had gotten it. After a few minutes he looked up, through the mirror he could see the sun was starting to rise out the window across the room. He turned around and grabbed the long-sleeve shirt from the hook on the back of the bathroom door and tugged it over his head on the way back to the kitchen. Arthur was gone, probably back to sleep with his buzz saw of a girlfriend. His mind wandered to thoughts of what Arthur had said earlier, he quickly pushed them aside. Grabbing a cup of coffee he leaned against the counter and stared at the sunrise. Trying to think about what made his dreams so real, why they decided to surface now, he'd finally gotten his life back on track, and started to live a semi-normal life. He finally had a job, he owned his own home and he had friends again. He felt as if his mind didn't want him to be happy, but he pushed this from his head. There had to be another reason; he finished off his coffee, placed the cup by the sink and walked out the door. There wasn't going to be time to think while he was running, exercise had a way of clearing his head, and he loved it.

     He ran a good two and a half miles before the sun was finally high enough in the sky that  if he started back now it could be considered a normal time of day and hopefully people would be awake. He looked around just to see where he ran to he was down by the bay in a small park he'd only been to once or twice before.

     "How'd I remember where to run?" he thought to himself as he turned back around to head towards his apartment. It wasn't until recently that Edward had noticed how little he paid attention to things. His mind always seemed to be wandering to one thing or another, no matter how important the task at hand was. Most of his life was spent in a world he'd made up to help him block the painful memories of the past. The run home took half as much time as it did to make it to the bay, eventually Edward would have to start figuring out where exactly his time was going, but for now he had to get to work. He jumped in the shower and  immediately jumped back out.

     "GOD, FUCK!" he exclaimed "VANESSA! Did you use all the hot water?"

     It was a lost cause though, Vanessa and Arthur had gone out already and Edward was just yelling to himself. He sighed and eased his way back into the shower. He wasn't the kind of person to just take the plunge, at least not anymore. The shower was quick and it tensed his muscles far more than it relaxed them. He dressed quickly and ran out the door and down the stairs to where his car, a 1978 Ford Mustang II, sat quietly covered in the corner of the garage. This car was his baby, this pride and joy; he'd spent every dime he had to buy it and since then has been working to the bone to make it look as gorgeous as it deserved to be. It still needed a lot of work under the hood, but at least now he was finally happy with it's exterior enough to drive it to work at the docks. His job didn't require much thinking, it was sort of what he was good at. His was lean and muscular, great for loading and unloading , mindless menial labor he liked to think. At least he was getting a good amount of pay for such simple work, no one else seemed to find their job as enjoyable as Edward, but he didn't care. He liked it and to him, at least right now, that is all that mattered.

     Edward rarely had bad days, at least he made it appear that way to his co-workers. He was so afraid to get close to people, he knew he shouldn't have been, but it was just his nature to be a loner now. The last time he got close to someone his world stopped for four years and no one cared he was missing.  So he spent his most of his breaks staring out over the water his green eyes scanning the horizon for something interesting.

     "Yo, Edward!" someone called from behind him, "Wanna go to the pub?"

     Edward turned at the mention of his name, "What?" he called back, his mind snapping back to the present now unaware of whatever it was he was just thinking of.

     "Do…you…want to go…to the pub?" screamed George way louder than he needed to.

     "Oh yeah! Sure, I'd love to go." Edward was within normal speaking distance now and George's yelling slightly irritated him.

     They had about an hour until the next shipment and often the guys liked to stop by the pub while they waited. The boss didn't seem to mind, and Edward normally thought of this as slacking, but today was different and hell if he was going to pass up the opportunity to be somewhat normal for once. He tried to pay attention as someone chatted his ear off the whole walk to the pub, but when they got there he was not a word the wiser. They got about three beers in each before they had to head back to the loading docks. Took them longer to get back to the docks than it took them to get there, but at least no one was going to be complaining about the work they had to do now, and that made Edward more than happy to work. It took about four hours to get everything off the boat, situated in the warehouse, and the empty containers back on board. Edward loved when the crew was a bit tipsy, because this meant not only that he could work in peace, but they also seemed to work a lot faster. This meant Edward was on his way home far faster than usual. It was 5:12pm when he was rolling out of the stockyard, on his way home to veg for a bit before going to work out at the gym. Edward's life seemed to revolve around keeping himself in pristine physical condition, there wasn't an off switch with him sometimes.

     He decided to stop by the corner market for some food, he wasn't sure if he had anything left and he couldn't exactly remember the last time he, Vanessa, and Arthur had been to the market. He picked up some chicken and fettuccine, he was hoping that Vanessa and Arthur were home when he got there. He didn't really want to be alone today, he didn't know why, but the feeling that accompanied being alone wasn't what it normally was and he was wary of it. He shopped quickly, planning on a bigger meal, he still wasn't paying attention to his surroundings and didn't notice someone was watching.

     It was later than he thought when he finally got home. "I really need to keep better track of time." he growled. "It's already almost eight!"

     He looked down at his five bags of groceries. "Vanessa? Arthur? Anyone here?" Edward had barely turned the door knob as he called into the house.

     This time it was Vanessa who answered, this sadly disappointed Edward. "Yeah, we're just watching some TV. Do you need help with something?" she sounded a little less than willing to help if he said yes.

     "Nah, I think I'll be able to manage, it's only a few bags. Did you guys already eat dinner? I was thinking of making some fettuccine alfredo with chicken, you guys want any? I will have more than enough left over." he shoved the door closed with the heel of his foot and turned into the kitchen.

     "Oh, Arthur and I were thinking of going to dinner and a movie…"

     Arthur interrupted her "Yes, but that sounds like a lot more delicious alternative, and cheaper to boot. We can always rent a movie hun, Edward is such a great cook…"

     Vanessa's face showed her obvious disparagement. "Yeah, but you promised me…"

     "His food is so much better when it's fresh though Vanessa, pleeeasseeee?" his puppy-dog eyes got her every time and she yielded, throwing her hands in the air and concentrating back on the TV to avoid showing her disappointment.

     Edward's smug smile couldn't be hidden, he was glad that Arthur either really loved Edward's cooking or saw Edward obviously did not want to be alone tonight. Either way Edward was extremely happy to have won the argument without saying a word. He happily fretted around the kitchen, preparing this and that, making sure everything was perfect so Vanessa couldn't be mad for too long.

     They all sat on the couch after dinner, Arthur and Vanessa cuddling and Edward was sort of half lounged on the far side of the couch, he was a mess mentally now that there was no need to talk and there was nothing to keep his mind distracted, the mind-numbing effects of the TV not really fazing him. The one positive of this past experiences is the fact that no matter how much it hurt inside, it rarely showed on his face. It kept so many more people at the safe distance that made Edward comfortable. Now it turned against him. He wanted so much to tell someone his thoughts. Bring someone in, have them see and feel what he felt, but he couldn't bring himself to burden anyone with the amount of anguish and pain he felt, instead he bore his cross silently. The movie Vanessa had picked was some sappy love story and Edward wasn't getting into it, Arthur was equally bored and the two men silently endured the misery together, knowing that any word from either of them would rekindle the anger that Vanessa had finally seemed to be getting over. The movie finally ended and Vanessa started to slink off to bed, leaving Arthur and Edward to watch some random sports show. Edward still wasn't paying attention but at least it wasn't  a sappy as hell love story. He sat quietly thinking less about his dreams last night, which seemed to be slowly dulling the more tired Edward got.

     Arthur soon slapped his leg "Yo man, I'm going to bed, so you want me to leave this on?" He gestured at the TV, Edward snapped back to attention

     "Nah, I think I'm going to follow you to bed, what time is it anyhow?" Arthur glanced down at his watch.

     "It's going on 3:00am. Shit, when did it get so late?"

     Arthur stretched and yawned as she flipped the TV off and Edward pulled himself off the couch. They boys went their separate ways down the hall, both stripping their shirts off before getting to their respective rooms. It was almost like watching mirrored opposites, a comedy of parallel life.

              II

     Edward wasn't bad looking, by any sense of the word, in fact Vanessa had been madly in love with him when she first saw him. She found the ad in the paper and despite not really needing a house right away she thought about checking it out. She had always wanted to live co-ed and well, the ad had a sense of urgency to it. She was always a helpful person and who knows, it might be a cute little apartment.  Arthur had yet to find her (and in all honesty all of Arthur's traits she loved were ones she had not-so-secretly adored about Edward) and she was lonely, a co-ed roommate could be a potential. That was the mindset she had when she entered the apartment building, but nothing in her wildest dreams could have prepared her for Edward. She was at a loss for words when he answered the door. He was everything she had ever looked for in a man, with one shortcoming, he didn't want her. She thinks back now and realizes it had to have been lust, or maybe she tells herself that to mask the pain of rejection. Either way when she first saw him, his tall, lean yet muscular frame, his green eyes, and his black hair that looked like he must have jumped out of bed and let gravity do the rest; she forgot how to breathe. He reached out to shake her hand, his covered in axle grease, she took his hand and held it.

     "Welcome to the apartment, I'm Edward." His voice was cheerful and genuinely happy to see someone.

     "H-Hi, I'm Vanessa…" she trailed off, still staring into his eyes, her hand still holding his and slipping around because of the grease.

     He pulled his hand back, noticing he had gotten grease on her finally. "So, do you want to look aroun--"

     "I'll take the spare room!" she cut him off and scared him nearly out of his pants. Edward stared, bewildered at her. "I would love to move in, when can I?" her voice filled with excitement at the potential.

     "W-well uhh, don't you want to know the rent and utilities at least? I mean you don't even want to look at your room?" He nervously smiled at her, wondering what could possibly be wrong with her.

     "Of course I want to know all that, I've just fallen in love with this place, it's perfect!" She was lying to herself and him, but she didn't care, she was in "love."

     Edward chuckled lightly. "I've never met anyone with that mindset on this place, but of course you can move in whenever you'd like. Rent is $845 and that includes utilities, cable, parking, and wireless internet. I'd prefer if you could get rent to me by the end of the month, so I have it in time for the first. Other than that, do you have any special requests on anything before we seal the deal so we can make sure it will work out? Oh, there is only one bathroom, I hope that is alright with you."  he rubbed the back of his head with the grease covered hand, immediately realizing what he had done he dropped his hand to his side, cringing.

     Vanessa thought his cringe had been in response to her possible facial expression and quickly tried to make herself overly happy. "$845 is less than I am paying now, yeah it's a little less room, but the company is going to be more than worth it…"

     Her mind wandered as Edward stood waiting for her answer, in complete disbelief he had just wiped axle grease into his hair. It was times like this he was glad his hair was black already, he sighed inaudibly.

     "Would you  mind if I moved in on Tuesday?" Vanessa brought Edward back from his mental conversation with himself.

     "Uhh, no. Not at all. I will take Tuesday off and give you a hand with your stuff." He smiled and her heart pounded.

     She went home that night, counting the days until she could see him again. Now she only needed to worry about how to tell Penny and Jane that she was moving out. It was Wednesday, she had a good week to find some excuse, right?

     Edward didn't fully know what to make of Vanessa, he was excited about having someone to fill the empty room, to make it impossible for him to be alone, it's what he had wanted. That is what he kept telling himself, he was just hoping that it would have been a guy. "I don't know if I will be able to handle this…"

     Edward sighed again, closing the door behind Vanessa. Edward may have been a bit aloof from time to time, but he knew the look Vanessa had, and he knew it spelled trouble if he let it carry on. He wasn't one for conflict, at least not conflict that didn't involve violence. He was rash and more than enjoyed letting his hands do the talking for those words his mouth couldn't quite find. Women were bothersome, you had to talk things out with them, and Edward was no good at it.

     "This is my house dammit, and I will walk around naked when I please!" He sternly announced to no one in particular.

     He'd just have to set Vanessa straight right away, and maybe take to wearing boxers while she was around…he'd cowered to his own mind again. He slumped his way to the kitchen, he was glad to finally have a roommate, but he couldn't figure out how to talk to Vanessa about her feelings. The rest of the week was all but uneventful, the only thing that made his week better was Edward managed to get his hands on the billet dual groove pulley set he needed, and for a reasonable price. Now that the car was running it only needed a cosmetic makeover and he would have the best car he ever could imagine, next to the 1971 Chevy Chevelle SS Lonewolf of course.

     Edward's mind was far away dreaming about his garage and how it'd one day be filled with the most gorgeous American muscle ever built when Vanessa pulled into the garage, trailer in tow. Vanessa saw Edward under the hood of his car and decided to sneak up and hug him, something she had been wanting to do since she first saw him. Edward was humming one of his favorite Pennywise songs as he installed his new pulley system, he was unaware of the time, and the day for that mattered, all that mattered now was his car. Vanessa was slinking her hands under Edwards arms when he noticed, ducking and jerking himself to the side, before Edward could stop his reflexes he had Vanessa against the car with her arms pinned behind her back.

     "Oh my God!" Edward breathed, his eyes were wide with shock. "What the fuck were you thinking?" He let her arms go and backed up still staring at her in disbelief.

     "Well, I thought I would sneak up and hug you, I didn't dream you would react like you did. You've got hella quick reflexes, you scared the shit out of me!" She was rubbing her wrist where he had grabbed her.

     Edwards face was red and he was rubbing the back of his neck, a nervous habit he picked up when he was in grade school. "I'm really sorry, I don't like to be surprised. I guess I took it a little overboard. You're not hurt are you?" He looked at her wrist and she stopped rubbing them almost immediately.

     "You didn't hurt me silly, I'm resilient enough. Don't be sorry I shouldn't have snuck up on you like that. I don't know you well enough to be fooling around like that." She too was now blushing.

     "Wait, why are you here anyhow?" Edward's face was full of confusion. Vanessa just stared at him, not completely sure if he was being serious or not. After a few moments she realized he really had no idea what day is was, her face twisted into a half smile and she shook her head.

     "You don't have a clue what day it is, do you?" she raised an eyebrow at him. His blank stare answered her question faster than he did.

     "It's Monday, right?" he looked sheepishly at her when he saw her shake her head.

     "I'd say if I didn't know better that you always have your head in the clouds Edward. It's Tuesday, and today's the day I told you I was going to move in." Her face was a mix between pain and awe. Things seemed to click slowly into place in Edward's head. She watched him carefully, unsure of how this would end.

     He composed his face when he noticed her watching him. "Let me help you get your stuff upstairs then." He smiled and slammed the hood on his car. He knew that she wasn't going to let him finish installing the pulley system. She turned and walked over to the far side of the garage where she had hidden her car to make sure he wouldn't see her.

     Edward sighed and slumped his shoulders, "How far away did you park? The stairs are over there…" he motioned with his head.

     "I was going to move the car back towards the stairs, I didn't realize you were following me." Edwards annoyance was clearly visible and Vanessa turned back to the car, she didn't want to make him more angry. His footsteps were heavy as he trudged back to the stairwell.

     "I didn't know you were following me…" he mocked, "How the fuck didn't you notice I was walking beside you?" he hissed. "I'm going to have think about this, she can't really be this slow…right?" He tried to compose his face again as she drove around the corner. He really wanted to give her a chance and maybe today wasn't her day. After all today had been a great day for him, he shouldn't be pissy. This made him feel better and he smiled as she got out of the car and popped the trunk. Vanessa's face was wary, she wasn't sure what to make of his sudden mood changes, her nervous smile seemed to fool him and she loaded boxes into his arms.

     It took them a good five hours to get all her stuff up the stairs, she was really surprised how much he was able to carry. "He's so lanky, he couldn't be that strong, he must be showing off for me…" the thought of this alone made her heart jump, "He must like me too!" she was lost in her thoughts.

     "Uhh, where do you want your mattress?" Edward popped out from behind the mattress now laying in the hallway. "I think we should set the bed frame up before we bring the mattress into the house, it's pretty small in there with all the boxes."

     "Yeah," she said, "That sounds like it will work, do you happen to have any tools?" He scoffed at her.

     "I have been building that car down there from scratch, I think I have a few tools." sarcasm rang clearly in his tone, but he smiled anyhow. "What do you need?"

     "Well, let's see…" she looked at the box for her new bed. "Uhh, I don't know what some of these are called, I need a cross head screwdriver, a hammer, and uhh the one that tightens bolts…a wrench? Pliers?" she was making a motion with her hands to describe their action.

     Edward shook his head and ran downstairs to grab his toolbox from the trunk of his car. He was back quickly with what she had said she needed and he worked his way to the bedroom to get the job done more quickly. It took about 25 minutes to get the basic bed frame she had set up and ready for the mattress, the springs looked vicious but Edward sat on them before getting up to fetch the mattress, thinking how much more time it would be before he could get back to installing the pulleys. While Edward was working on the bed and other furniture setup Vanessa had gone about unpacking boxes to see what she could put away with what he had finished working on. Eventually she realized she was just more in the way that she was speeding up the process so she went to sit in the kitchen while Edward finished up the furniture. It was about 4 hours before Edward was finished with all the furniture, he walked out of her room carrying a handful of flattened cardboard boxes, he glanced at Vanessa in the kitchen as he passed.  He was back from the dumpster before Vanessa was able to get to the hallway, Edward offered to help her, but her pride and embarrassment from how little she had done today kept her from letting him handle it. After ten minute Edward became slightly concerned that it was taking her that long, he  opened the hallway door to go look for her and instead collided headfirst into her. Vanessa stumbled back and fell into the hall, Edward pulled his hands to his face rubbing his nose and muffling a string of profanities. He held out his hand to help her up, his other hand pinching the bridge of his nose to stop the blood that was dripping from his nose. Vanessa grabbed Edward's hand and hoisted herself up and through the door to grab a towel to clean up the mess. By the time she had gotten back to him Edward had made his way to the bathroom and shoved some toilet paper up his nose and was washing the blood from his hands. Vanessa caught his reflection in the mirror and couldn't help but lose herself laughing. Edward jerked his head up and caught sight of her in the mirror, he was lividly angry and slammed the bathroom door leaving Vanessa rolling in the hall.

     "She has me help her all day then laughs at me?!" Edward slammed his hand on the counter. "Damn my manners!" His knuckles strained white against his skin. Slowly he calmed down, the bleeding in his nose had stopped so he pulled the paper out and threw it in the toilet, flushed it, and walked to the door. He opened it to see Vanessa sitting on the floor, her back to the wall.

     She looked up at him as he walked out, "I'm so sorry Edward. I really didn't mean to upset you like that, but I wish you could have seen yourself."

     A giggle escaped and she hid her face to try and keep Edward from hearing it. He stared at her for a second, then decided to ignore it and pretend he hadn't heard her, it was obvious she really was sorry and he was glad she tried to apologize.

     "It's not really a problem Vanessa, it's just sometimes my anger gets the best of me I guess. You're alright though, I mean I must have hit you pretty hard to make my nose bleed." he looked down at her again.

     "I'm fine actually, you hit the top of my head. I guess that's what I get for being short, at least I know I can beat you up." She smiled up at him.

     He offered her a hand up, " I guess you're right. You're too tough for your own good." he smirked and pulled her to her feet.

     Edward spent the rest of the evening down installing his pulley system to give Vanessa the room to get herself settled. He was enjoying the silence, it was calming and all the anger that had flashed on him this afternoon. He couldn't understand why he had snapped at her, it wasn't her fault and he really hadn't been that mad about it. Maybe it was stress, something Edward knew wasn't his strong-suit. Finally it was late enough that Edward was getting hungry and there really wasn't anything else he could pretend to be fixing up and cleaning on the car. He threw his tools in the trunk, locked the car and threw the tarp over it. Walking back up to the apartment he rubbed his hands on the towel he was keeping in his back pocket, then he  wiped his face smearing the grease from the towel all over his face.

     "Awesome…" he grumbled as he pulled his keys out to unlock the front door. He wiped his face with the back of his hand to get the grease off the best he could, another thing for Vanessa to laugh at was the last thing he needed. He walked straight through to the bathroom and started up the shower, avoiding Vanessa as much as he could. The shower relaxed his muscles, he hadn't realized how tense his body was until now. Today's moving wasn't anymore than a usual day at the loading dock, but it might have been the company. Edward still wasn't sure about Vanessa, but she was willing to pay more than he really needed for rent  so the extra money was something he wasn't going to turn down.

     "Eventually she'd have to get over her crush…right?" he turned off the water and put a towel on and stared into the mirror, trying to see what it was that Vanessa saw in him. Edward was never one to see himself as handsome, in fact he'd had four years to nit-pick at all his flaws. Now that was all he ever saw when he looked in the mirror; he walked to his room and shut the door. He still wasn't completely ready to accept the fact Vanessa was going to be living with him, in fact he'd almost forgotten that very crucial point as he opened the door to grab something he'd left in the bathroom, it wasn't until he was fully in the hall and could see her in the kitchen that he jumped back into his bedroom to cover up.

     "Shhhiiitt!" He exclaimed. "I'm going to have to remember Vanessa is here too. That could have been horrible, I mean she just moved in…"

     Vanessa  was busy with something during his parade, but it was hard to ignore him screaming. She was outside his door, confused and concerned about what was wrong.

     "Edward?! Edward are you alright?" Worry rang through in her voice.

     "I'm fine." Edward mumbled "I just ran into my dresser, no worries…"

     Edward  pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled. He wasn't sure how well this whole roommate situation was going to work out.

Description
Introduction

     He was nineteen, jobless , and no one would remember his face. At least that is what the scientists thought when they followed him in the subway that night. Edward Starke was just that twenty-three, jobless and most of this family had disowned him for his lifestyle choices. Recently dumped and close to eviction he welcomed anything that would take his mind off the crap-heap his life had become. However, I don't think that being abducted  was in his realm of "possible" anythings.

     Edward put up more of a fight than the scientists thought he would, even after the large dose of Nembutal he was able to hold his own against two of them. Edward wasn't small by any means; 6 foot 4 inches, 201 pounds he was a force to be reckoned with. His lanky physique made the scientists misjudge the amount of sedative he needed and it gave Edward just the edge he needed to fight back for a while. He threw punches wildly, striking one of the men square in the jaw and clipping another in the nose. He flailed about wildly making it nearly impossible to get a firm grip on him, he kicked out his legs when he was sure of his footing or if someone had a hand on him, his screams echoed off the tiled subway walls but no one came. Finally the drugs started to kick in and Edwards head began to sway, his eyesight blurred and his reflexes became hindered. The men, now overly wary and unsure of what to make of the situation, cautiously approached Edward one more time. A quick knock to the head sent him straight to the ground. The group of men soon had Edward bound and gagged in the back of their Crown Victoria and heading the dreadful place where Edward was going to spend the next four years of his life.

I

    The days all seemed to run together in that small white bedroom Edward had become more than accustomed to. He could find his way around the room blindfolded with his legs bound. Long ago he had given up the fight, his eyes no longer had the same glow they used to, his fighting spirit drained and his want to live almost gone. He sometimes he was curious if anyone wondered where he went, if anyone missed him at all. He figured they would think he took their advice and left them and their "perfect lives" alone. The anger towards his family was still strong and he couldn't understand how anyone could turn their backs on someone, especially at a time when they were at their most vulnerable. It was lonely in his room, the only people he'd seen in the last two years had been scientists, taking his blood-work and giving him food. Sometimes he was taken down the hall to work out in a small room with a treadmill and some free-weights. This was Edward's favorite part of the endless amount of spare time he seemed to have. The endless despair he found himself in seemed to lighten when he worked out, there was less time to think when his mind was preoccupied.
     Edward woke up drenched in sweat, his mind unsure how to process the images now floating in his mind. The images he had worked years to repress, all coming back so suddenly. His silhouette was cast on the far wall of the small two bedroom apartment he shared with a girl who found his ad in the classifieds. He could hear her snoring in the next room over, or perhaps it was her boyfriend, he wasn't sure but it wasn't going to help his new found sleeplessness. He trudged to the kitchen, naked, knowing full well that no one was going to be up at this hour. It wasn't until he started the coffee that he realized the smell of coffee was more than enough to wake most people up in an apartment with intertwined AC vents. He hauled ass to his room to grab the boxers he left by the bed just as the door to his roommates bedroom opened. He slid around the corner just as Arthur, rubbing sleep from his eye, pulled himself to the kitchen to investigate the smell of freshly brewed coffee. Edward sighed as he realized how close he was to complete embarrassment, pulling his boxers up as he half-tripped out of his room. Arthur looked up to see Edward almost eat it and  couldn't help but utter a slight laugh. Edward looked up, pretending to be surprised that someone else was awake, his black hair a mess and almost completely blocking his vision. "I'm sorry if I woke you up…" Edward trailed off "I was having a bit of a hard time sleeping and thought I'd get a jump-start on my day." He still hadn't looked at the clock so he had no idea what time it actually was.
     "Nah, it was the coffee, and Vanessa's snoring. Have you heard her? She sounds like a car with a bad muffler…" Arthur was standing there in his boxers and Edward couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy towards Vanessa for nabbing herself a package such as Arthur. His eyes moved to the clock behind Arthur, who had already poured himself a mug of coffee making Edward slightly angry, he loved the first glass of coffee and he hated when someone stole it from him.

     "4:15" Edward thought to himself to get his mind back on track with his story. "Yeah, I was thinking about going out for a run, it's so much cooler in the mornings…" he trailed off hoping that would be enough for Arthur.

     "No worries, I was just stealing some of your coffee. I'm hoping it helps me sleep. I know, I know that sounds crazy, but it works sometimes. A lot better than tea I have to say, plus you make some of the best coffee."

     This made Edward blush, which in this case, was more than he could handle at the moment. "Thanks, I think my coffee's crap." he said as he tried to walk as casually as he could back to his room. "You have to get control of this Edward!" He screamed inwardly at himself as he stood in the bathroom. "Arthur is Vanessa's boyfriend. On top of that he's not into men. Face it, you can't have him no matter how badly you want him." Edward glanced at himself one more time in the mirror before going back for his coffee. The scars on his side made him cringe, painful memories of a time he'd forgotten, until this morning.

     He traced a scar absentmindedly, trying to remember how he had gotten it. After a few minutes he looked up, through the mirror he could see the sun was starting to rise out the window across the room. He turned around and grabbed the long-sleeve shirt from the hook on the back of the bathroom door and tugged it over his head on the way back to the kitchen. Arthur was gone, probably back to sleep with his buzz saw of a girlfriend. His mind wandered to thoughts of what Arthur had said earlier, he quickly pushed them aside. Grabbing a cup of coffee he leaned against the counter and stared at the sunrise. Trying to think about what made his dreams so real, why they decided to surface now, he'd finally gotten his life back on track, and started to live a semi-normal life. He finally had a job, he owned his own home and he had friends again. He felt as if his mind didn't want him to be happy, but he pushed this from his head. There had to be another reason; he finished off his coffee, placed the cup by the sink and walked out the door. There wasn't going to be time to think while he was running, exercise had a way of clearing his head, and he loved it.

     He ran a good two and a half miles before the sun was finally high enough in the sky that  if he started back now it could be considered a normal time of day and hopefully people would be awake. He looked around just to see where he ran to he was down by the bay in a small park he'd only been to once or twice before.

     "How'd I remember where to run?" he thought to himself as he turned back around to head towards his apartment. It wasn't until recently that Edward had noticed how little he paid attention to things. His mind always seemed to be wandering to one thing or another, no matter how important the task at hand was. Most of his life was spent in a world he'd made up to help him block the painful memories of the past. The run home took half as much time as it did to make it to the bay, eventually Edward would have to start figuring out where exactly his time was going, but for now he had to get to work. He jumped in the shower and  immediately jumped back out.

     "GOD, FUCK!" he exclaimed "VANESSA! Did you use all the hot water?"

     It was a lost cause though, Vanessa and Arthur had gone out already and Edward was just yelling to himself. He sighed and eased his way back into the shower. He wasn't the kind of person to just take the plunge, at least not anymore. The shower was quick and it tensed his muscles far more than it relaxed them. He dressed quickly and ran out the door and down the stairs to where his car, a 1978 Ford Mustang II, sat quietly covered in the corner of the garage. This car was his baby, this pride and joy; he'd spent every dime he had to buy it and since then has been working to the bone to make it look as gorgeous as it deserved to be. It still needed a lot of work under the hood, but at least now he was finally happy with it's exterior enough to drive it to work at the docks. His job didn't require much thinking, it was sort of what he was good at. His was lean and muscular, great for loading and unloading , mindless menial labor he liked to think. At least he was getting a good amount of pay for such simple work, no one else seemed to find their job as enjoyable as Edward, but he didn't care. He liked it and to him, at least right now, that is all that mattered.

     Edward rarely had bad days, at least he made it appear that way to his co-workers. He was so afraid to get close to people, he knew he shouldn't have been, but it was just his nature to be a loner now. The last time he got close to someone his world stopped for four years and no one cared he was missing.  So he spent his most of his breaks staring out over the water his green eyes scanning the horizon for something interesting.

     "Yo, Edward!" someone called from behind him, "Wanna go to the pub?"

     Edward turned at the mention of his name, "What?" he called back, his mind snapping back to the present now unaware of whatever it was he was just thinking of.

     "Do…you…want to go…to the pub?" screamed George way louder than he needed to.

     "Oh yeah! Sure, I'd love to go." Edward was within normal speaking distance now and George's yelling slightly irritated him.

     They had about an hour until the next shipment and often the guys liked to stop by the pub while they waited. The boss didn't seem to mind, and Edward normally thought of this as slacking, but today was different and hell if he was going to pass up the opportunity to be somewhat normal for once. He tried to pay attention as someone chatted his ear off the whole walk to the pub, but when they got there he was not a word the wiser. They got about three beers in each before they had to head back to the loading docks. Took them longer to get back to the docks than it took them to get there, but at least no one was going to be complaining about the work they had to do now, and that made Edward more than happy to work. It took about four hours to get everything off the boat, situated in the warehouse, and the empty containers back on board. Edward loved when the crew was a bit tipsy, because this meant not only that he could work in peace, but they also seemed to work a lot faster. This meant Edward was on his way home far faster than usual. It was 5:12pm when he was rolling out of the stockyard, on his way home to veg for a bit before going to work out at the gym. Edward's life seemed to revolve around keeping himself in pristine physical condition, there wasn't an off switch with him sometimes.

     He decided to stop by the corner market for some food, he wasn't sure if he had anything left and he couldn't exactly remember the last time he, Vanessa, and Arthur had been to the market. He picked up some chicken and fettuccine, he was hoping that Vanessa and Arthur were home when he got there. He didn't really want to be alone today, he didn't know why, but the feeling that accompanied being alone wasn't what it normally was and he was wary of it. He shopped quickly, planning on a bigger meal, he still wasn't paying attention to his surroundings and didn't notice someone was watching.

     It was later than he thought when he finally got home. "I really need to keep better track of time." he growled. "It's already almost eight!"

     He looked down at his five bags of groceries. "Vanessa? Arthur? Anyone here?" Edward had barely turned the door knob as he called into the house.

     This time it was Vanessa who answered, this sadly disappointed Edward. "Yeah, we're just watching some TV. Do you need help with something?" she sounded a little less than willing to help if he said yes.

     "Nah, I think I'll be able to manage, it's only a few bags. Did you guys already eat dinner? I was thinking of making some fettuccine alfredo with chicken, you guys want any? I will have more than enough left over." he shoved the door closed with the heel of his foot and turned into the kitchen.

     "Oh, Arthur and I were thinking of going to dinner and a movie…"

     Arthur interrupted her "Yes, but that sounds like a lot more delicious alternative, and cheaper to boot. We can always rent a movie hun, Edward is such a great cook…"

     Vanessa's face showed her obvious disparagement. "Yeah, but you promised me…"

     "His food is so much better when it's fresh though Vanessa, pleeeasseeee?" his puppy-dog eyes got her every time and she yielded, throwing her hands in the air and concentrating back on the TV to avoid showing her disappointment.

     Edward's smug smile couldn't be hidden, he was glad that Arthur either really loved Edward's cooking or saw Edward obviously did not want to be alone tonight. Either way Edward was extremely happy to have won the argument without saying a word. He happily fretted around the kitchen, preparing this and that, making sure everything was perfect so Vanessa couldn't be mad for too long.

     They all sat on the couch after dinner, Arthur and Vanessa cuddling and Edward was sort of half lounged on the far side of the couch, he was a mess mentally now that there was no need to talk and there was nothing to keep his mind distracted, the mind-numbing effects of the TV not really fazing him. The one positive of this past experiences is the fact that no matter how much it hurt inside, it rarely showed on his face. It kept so many more people at the safe distance that made Edward comfortable. Now it turned against him. He wanted so much to tell someone his thoughts. Bring someone in, have them see and feel what he felt, but he couldn't bring himself to burden anyone with the amount of anguish and pain he felt, instead he bore his cross silently. The movie Vanessa had picked was some sappy love story and Edward wasn't getting into it, Arthur was equally bored and the two men silently endured the misery together, knowing that any word from either of them would rekindle the anger that Vanessa had finally seemed to be getting over. The movie finally ended and Vanessa started to slink off to bed, leaving Arthur and Edward to watch some random sports show. Edward still wasn't paying attention but at least it wasn't  a sappy as hell love story. He sat quietly thinking less about his dreams last night, which seemed to be slowly dulling the more tired Edward got.

     Arthur soon slapped his leg "Yo man, I'm going to bed, so you want me to leave this on?" He gestured at the TV, Edward snapped back to attention

     "Nah, I think I'm going to follow you to bed, what time is it anyhow?" Arthur glanced down at his watch.

     "It's going on 3:00am. Shit, when did it get so late?"

     Arthur stretched and yawned as she flipped the TV off and Edward pulled himself off the couch. They boys went their separate ways down the hall, both stripping their shirts off before getting to their respective rooms. It was almost like watching mirrored opposites, a comedy of parallel life.

              II

     Edward wasn't bad looking, by any sense of the word, in fact Vanessa had been madly in love with him when she first saw him. She found the ad in the paper and despite not really needing a house right away she thought about checking it out. She had always wanted to live co-ed and well, the ad had a sense of urgency to it. She was always a helpful person and who knows, it might be a cute little apartment.  Arthur had yet to find her (and in all honesty all of Arthur's traits she loved were ones she had not-so-secretly adored about Edward) and she was lonely, a co-ed roommate could be a potential. That was the mindset she had when she entered the apartment building, but nothing in her wildest dreams could have prepared her for Edward. She was at a loss for words when he answered the door. He was everything she had ever looked for in a man, with one shortcoming, he didn't want her. She thinks back now and realizes it had to have been lust, or maybe she tells herself that to mask the pain of rejection. Either way when she first saw him, his tall, lean yet muscular frame, his green eyes, and his black hair that looked like he must have jumped out of bed and let gravity do the rest; she forgot how to breathe. He reached out to shake her hand, his covered in axle grease, she took his hand and held it.

     "Welcome to the apartment, I'm Edward." His voice was cheerful and genuinely happy to see someone.

     "H-Hi, I'm Vanessa…" she trailed off, still staring into his eyes, her hand still holding his and slipping around because of the grease.

     He pulled his hand back, noticing he had gotten grease on her finally. "So, do you want to look aroun--"

     "I'll take the spare room!" she cut him off and scared him nearly out of his pants. Edward stared, bewildered at her. "I would love to move in, when can I?" her voice filled with excitement at the potential.

     "W-well uhh, don't you want to know the rent and utilities at least? I mean you don't even want to look at your room?" He nervously smiled at her, wondering what could possibly be wrong with her.

     "Of course I want to know all that, I've just fallen in love with this place, it's perfect!" She was lying to herself and him, but she didn't care, she was in "love."

     Edward chuckled lightly. "I've never met anyone with that mindset on this place, but of course you can move in whenever you'd like. Rent is $845 and that includes utilities, cable, parking, and wireless internet. I'd prefer if you could get rent to me by the end of the month, so I have it in time for the first. Other than that, do you have any special requests on anything before we seal the deal so we can make sure it will work out? Oh, there is only one bathroom, I hope that is alright with you."  he rubbed the back of his head with the grease covered hand, immediately realizing what he had done he dropped his hand to his side, cringing.

     Vanessa thought his cringe had been in response to her possible facial expression and quickly tried to make herself overly happy. "$845 is less than I am paying now, yeah it's a little less room, but the company is going to be more than worth it…"

     Her mind wandered as Edward stood waiting for her answer, in complete disbelief he had just wiped axle grease into his hair. It was times like this he was glad his hair was black already, he sighed inaudibly.

     "Would you  mind if I moved in on Tuesday?" Vanessa brought Edward back from his mental conversation with himself.

     "Uhh, no. Not at all. I will take Tuesday off and give you a hand with your stuff." He smiled and her heart pounded.

     She went home that night, counting the days until she could see him again. Now she only needed to worry about how to tell Penny and Jane that she was moving out. It was Wednesday, she had a good week to find some excuse, right?

     Edward didn't fully know what to make of Vanessa, he was excited about having someone to fill the empty room, to make it impossible for him to be alone, it's what he had wanted. That is what he kept telling himself, he was just hoping that it would have been a guy. "I don't know if I will be able to handle this…"

     Edward sighed again, closing the door behind Vanessa. Edward may have been a bit aloof from time to time, but he knew the look Vanessa had, and he knew it spelled trouble if he let it carry on. He wasn't one for conflict, at least not conflict that didn't involve violence. He was rash and more than enjoyed letting his hands do the talking for those words his mouth couldn't quite find. Women were bothersome, you had to talk things out with them, and Edward was no good at it.

     "This is my house dammit, and I will walk around naked when I please!" He sternly announced to no one in particular.

     He'd just have to set Vanessa straight right away, and maybe take to wearing boxers while she was around…he'd cowered to his own mind again. He slumped his way to the kitchen, he was glad to finally have a roommate, but he couldn't figure out how to talk to Vanessa about her feelings. The rest of the week was all but uneventful, the only thing that made his week better was Edward managed to get his hands on the billet dual groove pulley set he needed, and for a reasonable price. Now that the car was running it only needed a cosmetic makeover and he would have the best car he ever could imagine, next to the 1971 Chevy Chevelle SS Lonewolf of course.

     Edward's mind was far away dreaming about his garage and how it'd one day be filled with the most gorgeous American muscle ever built when Vanessa pulled into the garage, trailer in tow. Vanessa saw Edward under the hood of his car and decided to sneak up and hug him, something she had been wanting to do since she first saw him. Edward was humming one of his favorite Pennywise songs as he installed his new pulley system, he was unaware of the time, and the day for that mattered, all that mattered now was his car. Vanessa was slinking her hands under Edwards arms when he noticed, ducking and jerking himself to the side, before Edward could stop his reflexes he had Vanessa against the car with her arms pinned behind her back.

     "Oh my God!" Edward breathed, his eyes were wide with shock. "What the fuck were you thinking?" He let her arms go and backed up still staring at her in disbelief.

     "Well, I thought I would sneak up and hug you, I didn't dream you would react like you did. You've got hella quick reflexes, you scared the shit out of me!" She was rubbing her wrist where he had grabbed her.

     Edwards face was red and he was rubbing the back of his neck, a nervous habit he picked up when he was in grade school. "I'm really sorry, I don't like to be surprised. I guess I took it a little overboard. You're not hurt are you?" He looked at her wrist and she stopped rubbing them almost immediately.

     "You didn't hurt me silly, I'm resilient enough. Don't be sorry I shouldn't have snuck up on you like that. I don't know you well enough to be fooling around like that." She too was now blushing.

     "Wait, why are you here anyhow?" Edward's face was full of confusion. Vanessa just stared at him, not completely sure if he was being serious or not. After a few moments she realized he really had no idea what day is was, her face twisted into a half smile and she shook her head.

     "You don't have a clue what day it is, do you?" she raised an eyebrow at him. His blank stare answered her question faster than he did.

     "It's Monday, right?" he looked sheepishly at her when he saw her shake her head.

     "I'd say if I didn't know better that you always have your head in the clouds Edward. It's Tuesday, and today's the day I told you I was going to move in." Her face was a mix between pain and awe. Things seemed to click slowly into place in Edward's head. She watched him carefully, unsure of how this would end.

     He composed his face when he noticed her watching him. "Let me help you get your stuff upstairs then." He smiled and slammed the hood on his car. He knew that she wasn't going to let him finish installing the pulley system. She turned and walked over to the far side of the garage where she had hidden her car to make sure he wouldn't see her.

     Edward sighed and slumped his shoulders, "How far away did you park? The stairs are over there…" he motioned with his head.

     "I was going to move the car back towards the stairs, I didn't realize you were following me." Edwards annoyance was clearly visible and Vanessa turned back to the car, she didn't want to make him more angry. His footsteps were heavy as he trudged back to the stairwell.

     "I didn't know you were following me…" he mocked, "How the fuck didn't you notice I was walking beside you?" he hissed. "I'm going to have think about this, she can't really be this slow…right?" He tried to compose his face again as she drove around the corner. He really wanted to give her a chance and maybe today wasn't her day. After all today had been a great day for him, he shouldn't be pissy. This made him feel better and he smiled as she got out of the car and popped the trunk. Vanessa's face was wary, she wasn't sure what to make of his sudden mood changes, her nervous smile seemed to fool him and she loaded boxes into his arms.

     It took them a good five hours to get all her stuff up the stairs, she was really surprised how much he was able to carry. "He's so lanky, he couldn't be that strong, he must be showing off for me…" the thought of this alone made her heart jump, "He must like me too!" she was lost in her thoughts.

     "Uhh, where do you want your mattress?" Edward popped out from behind the mattress now laying in the hallway. "I think we should set the bed frame up before we bring the mattress into the house, it's pretty small in there with all the boxes."

     "Yeah," she said, "That sounds like it will work, do you happen to have any tools?" He scoffed at her.

     "I have been building that car down there from scratch, I think I have a few tools." sarcasm rang clearly in his tone, but he smiled anyhow. "What do you need?"

     "Well, let's see…" she looked at the box for her new bed. "Uhh, I don't know what some of these are called, I need a cross head screwdriver, a hammer, and uhh the one that tightens bolts…a wrench? Pliers?" she was making a motion with her hands to describe their action.

     Edward shook his head and ran downstairs to grab his toolbox from the trunk of his car. He was back quickly with what she had said she needed and he worked his way to the bedroom to get the job done more quickly. It took about 25 minutes to get the basic bed frame she had set up and ready for the mattress, the springs looked vicious but Edward sat on them before getting up to fetch the mattress, thinking how much more time it would be before he could get back to installing the pulleys. While Edward was working on the bed and other furniture setup Vanessa had gone about unpacking boxes to see what she could put away with what he had finished working on. Eventually she realized she was just more in the way that she was speeding up the process so she went to sit in the kitchen while Edward finished up the furniture. It was about 4 hours before Edward was finished with all the furniture, he walked out of her room carrying a handful of flattened cardboard boxes, he glanced at Vanessa in the kitchen as he passed.  He was back from the dumpster before Vanessa was able to get to the hallway, Edward offered to help her, but her pride and embarrassment from how little she had done today kept her from letting him handle it. After ten minute Edward became slightly concerned that it was taking her that long, he  opened the hallway door to go look for her and instead collided headfirst into her. Vanessa stumbled back and fell into the hall, Edward pulled his hands to his face rubbing his nose and muffling a string of profanities. He held out his hand to help her up, his other hand pinching the bridge of his nose to stop the blood that was dripping from his nose. Vanessa grabbed Edward's hand and hoisted herself up and through the door to grab a towel to clean up the mess. By the time she had gotten back to him Edward had made his way to the bathroom and shoved some toilet paper up his nose and was washing the blood from his hands. Vanessa caught his reflection in the mirror and couldn't help but lose herself laughing. Edward jerked his head up and caught sight of her in the mirror, he was lividly angry and slammed the bathroom door leaving Vanessa rolling in the hall.

     "She has me help her all day then laughs at me?!" Edward slammed his hand on the counter. "Damn my manners!" His knuckles strained white against his skin. Slowly he calmed down, the bleeding in his nose had stopped so he pulled the paper out and threw it in the toilet, flushed it, and walked to the door. He opened it to see Vanessa sitting on the floor, her back to the wall.

     She looked up at him as he walked out, "I'm so sorry Edward. I really didn't mean to upset you like that, but I wish you could have seen yourself."

     A giggle escaped and she hid her face to try and keep Edward from hearing it. He stared at her for a second, then decided to ignore it and pretend he hadn't heard her, it was obvious she really was sorry and he was glad she tried to apologize.

     "It's not really a problem Vanessa, it's just sometimes my anger gets the best of me I guess. You're alright though, I mean I must have hit you pretty hard to make my nose bleed." he looked down at her again.

     "I'm fine actually, you hit the top of my head. I guess that's what I get for being short, at least I know I can beat you up." She smiled up at him.

     He offered her a hand up, " I guess you're right. You're too tough for your own good." he smirked and pulled her to her feet.

     Edward spent the rest of the evening down installing his pulley system to give Vanessa the room to get herself settled. He was enjoying the silence, it was calming and all the anger that had flashed on him this afternoon. He couldn't understand why he had snapped at her, it wasn't her fault and he really hadn't been that mad about it. Maybe it was stress, something Edward knew wasn't his strong-suit. Finally it was late enough that Edward was getting hungry and there really wasn't anything else he could pretend to be fixing up and cleaning on the car. He threw his tools in the trunk, locked the car and threw the tarp over it. Walking back up to the apartment he rubbed his hands on the towel he was keeping in his back pocket, then he  wiped his face smearing the grease from the towel all over his face.

     "Awesome…" he grumbled as he pulled his keys out to unlock the front door. He wiped his face with the back of his hand to get the grease off the best he could, another thing for Vanessa to laugh at was the last thing he needed. He walked straight through to the bathroom and started up the shower, avoiding Vanessa as much as he could. The shower relaxed his muscles, he hadn't realized how tense his body was until now. Today's moving wasn't anymore than a usual day at the loading dock, but it might have been the company. Edward still wasn't sure about Vanessa, but she was willing to pay more than he really needed for rent  so the extra money was something he wasn't going to turn down.

     "Eventually she'd have to get over her crush…right?" he turned off the water and put a towel on and stared into the mirror, trying to see what it was that Vanessa saw in him. Edward was never one to see himself as handsome, in fact he'd had four years to nit-pick at all his flaws. Now that was all he ever saw when he looked in the mirror; he walked to his room and shut the door. He still wasn't completely ready to accept the fact Vanessa was going to be living with him, in fact he'd almost forgotten that very crucial point as he opened the door to grab something he'd left in the bathroom, it wasn't until he was fully in the hall and could see her in the kitchen that he jumped back into his bedroom to cover up.

     "Shhhiiitt!" He exclaimed. "I'm going to have to remember Vanessa is here too. That could have been horrible, I mean she just moved in…"

     Vanessa  was busy with something during his parade, but it was hard to ignore him screaming. She was outside his door, confused and concerned about what was wrong.

     "Edward?! Edward are you alright?" Worry rang through in her voice.

     "I'm fine." Edward mumbled "I just ran into my dresser, no worries…"

     Edward  pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled. He wasn't sure how well this whole roommate situation was going to work out.