An alarm started blaring, jolting you awake. A pair of arms pinned you down to a warm, hard chest in response to the sudden movement, the owner letting out a low growl of annoyance.

"Quit fidgetin'" Killer rasped by your ear, voice thick with sleep.

"Your phone's loud." You buried your face into his neck, feeling his goatee scratch at you.

He released you with one arm to reach in his pocket and fish his phone out. You assumed he was squinting at the screen.

"What?" He snapped into the receiver. It wasn't an alarm, he had gotten a call.

You could clearly hear another male voice on the other end. One that made your skin crawl. Eustass Kid.

"I need you for something today, meet up with me downstairs in an hour." The redhead said before immediately hanging up, not giving Killer a chance to object.

"Of course." He said moodily, dropping his phone on the floor. "I gotta work today Blue."

Killer dragged a hand along his face and peeked through his fingers at you. With the room falling back into quiet, you were almost asleep again, very comfortable cuddled up to him.

"Blue." He allowed himself to run his fingers through your hair soothingly to help get you up.

"Hmm?"

"You're clingy, you know that?"

Your eyes shot open as the full reality set in. You fell asleep with Killer and slept the whole night with him on the couch.

"Wah!" In your rush to get off of him, you fell onto the floor and stared up at the smiling blonde with a deep blush adorning your cheeks.

"You didn't have to do that. I never said I didn't like it." He said with a hint of disappointment.

"I didn't plan on sleeping here."

"So?" He sat up and stretched, a series of pops sounding from his back that made him groan. "You seemed to sleep decent. Though I'd like to request that we use the bed next time. My back didn't appreciate that."

Killer wasn't wrong. You did sleep well, much better than you thought possible crammed on a couch with someone else.

"You can have your bed back, I'll be back at my place tonight." You answered as you got to your feet.

"What? No. There's all kinds of water damage and you don't have a functioning bed there. I can't let you stay there when it's such a mess." He frowned.

"I've got my money back and you've already done a lot for me. Don't worry, I've got a plan."

You were confident you could find a job to make enough money to cover the costs for damages and replace all your stuff. It would mean finding it as the dragon though. That'll have to be a high risk, both because of the job itself and the risk of running into someone from the worst generation, but you had to do it to get out of Killer's hair. Staying with him already had you doing things you would have never considered before. You were afraid of what may come of bunking with him for too long.

"You've got a plan." He reiterated. "And what may said plan be?"

Right. Killer couldn't know all the fine details.

"Um, overtime." You ran your fingers through your hair to fix it. "I'll find something I can do during the day and then something tonight."

"That's great and all, but you won't be able to make enough today to take care of everything."

"I'll make it work."

"That's not–no." Killer shook his head. "Okay, what if I gave you what you needed to take care of it all? If you're so adamant to get things done today, I can pay for you–"

"I don't want charity." You walked off to the bedroom to get your shoes and he followed close behind.

"It's not charity. If you wanted it to be I wouldn't mind but since you obviously don't, you can pay me back later."

"It's fine, I'll figure it out myself. You've already done a lot by getting back my rent money and letting me stay the night."

You tugged on your shoes and were about to leave the room when Killer sidestepped in front of the doorway and placed his hands on your shoulders, looking you straight in the eyes with disapproval.

"This whole tough girl act can't keep going on Blue. There's nothing wrong with getting help from others, nothing wrong with asking for it. I don't mind you working to earn whatever you need but you can't stay there on ruined floors with nothing proper to sleep on. I have a couch and a bed here and if you don't want to share one with me I'll take the other."

You didn't know what to say. Killer could be blunt but he'd never felt so honest to you. There was no hint of teasing, he was almost pleading with you. And staring into those gorgeous blue eyes, you couldn't tell him no.

"Okay."

"Okay?" He was hopeful.

"Yeah, if it's not a bother...I'll stay until I get things fixed up."

"Good." He smiled, eyes practically sparkling. "Now Kid needs me for something today so I'll be out. I haven't told the entirety of the crew you're here and I'd rather you not wander around until they know you're not just some random woman in the complex. So for now, I'll take you wherever you need to go. You can text or call when you need a ride back here."

You'd completely forgotten you were in a complex consisting strictly of the Kid gang. And you were all alone here last night for a couple hours. Any one of them could have come in to bother you in that time period. It would have been unnerving for you, but much worse for anyone else who came around.

"Can you take me back to my place then? If I have time I might as well clean up and see if I can get the water damage accessed."

"That'd be a good idea." Killer agreed. "Let me shower and then we can head out, I'll be quick."

That worked for you. In the mean time, you'd text Ivankov and see what they could do for you in the way of finding a good paying job for the dragon. Even if you had time here with Killer, you'd rather pay off anything you're going to owe as fast as possible.

----

"I'm so sorry I wasn't here to help this morning Delilah!"

You didn't check the time until Killer went to shower. Both of you were out until almost midday and you'd never slept in so late before.

"Sweetie, you have much more important things to deal with right now, I had someone else step in so don't worry about it." She pat your cheek lovingly. "That being said, I can't do much to help you clean but you're more than welcome to use my supplies."

"Thank you." You smiled. "That's a huge help."

"I'll go get them while you get started and we can talk if you like."

By that she meant she wanted to know details and you'd be willing to give her some but you'd have to be careful how you worded things. While she wandered back to her place to get things to clean, you walked into yours to see the damages once again. It looked worse in the daylight but you figured once you tossed out all the trash, it'd be a little better.

So you started by dragging out the shredded mattress to the dumpster on the side of the building. It wasn't all that big but it was waterlogged and therefore, quite heavy. You still managed to throw it up and over into the bin by yourself. You were overdue for a new bed anyway. It was time to look on the bright side of things.

When you got back into your apartment, Delilah was already in there, armed with trash bags and a plethora of cleaning supplies. She had a mop, bucket, soap, rags, and just about every kind of cleaner you could think of ever needing. You were set.

She handed you a trash bag and let you start picking up pieces of splintered wood to shove in it while she brought in a chair to sit down and visit with you.

"So when did this happen, do you know?" You asked her, hoping to set up a time frame.

"Not long before dark. The sun was going down so I couldn't tell much more than it was a few men."

Her eyes weren't all that good, even with the glasses so that wasn't a surprise to you. But what threw you off was when it happened. It was the middle of the night when Killer texted you and he said he swung by your place. He should have seen how wrecked your apartment was. Maybe he waited to message you. He didn't seem to have much he worried about, you bet he just waited to text until he thought you should've been finished with work.

"Did they take anything Blue?" Delilah watched you throw the last of the wood scraps in the bag and toss it out the door. You'd take it to the dumpster later.

"Uh, not really. I had my money on me at the time and there's not really anything of value I own. Or owned I guess." You grimaced.

"So they settled for mindless destruction then."

"Unfortunately, but Killer is letting me stay at his until I get this all fixed up."

"I'm glad you made a friend, he couldn't have come into your life at a better time."

"You're my friend too Delilah." You giggled despite having to pick shattered plates up off the floor and drop them in the bucket to toss in the dumpster later. The plastic bags wouldn't hold up the the sharp ceramic shards.

"As much as I love you Blue, I'm just your friendly neighbor."

"Nonsense." You scoffed. "You're my friend and Killer..."

"Did things change between you two overnight?" She had a sweet, hopeful tone, like she was rooting for the day you found a partner.

"Well, no." You paused and thought about last night. A lot went on. So did things change? "Maybe, I'm not sure."

"Uncertainty speaks volumes my dear. I'd say something did."

You frowned. Damnit, she was right, like always.

"I don't know where to go from here if that's the case."

"Would he be your first boyfriend?"

"Um, yeah, he would."

There were only two topics that made you feel awkward; getting help of any kind, and intimate relationships. The common denominator was you had zero experience in either thing. You were always the kind of person to tackle your own problems by yourself no matter how difficult it was and as for intimacy, well, that was a self created issue. Scaring people away all the time was beginning to backfire on you.

"He'll help you along, trust me."

"I hope you're right, cause I have no idea what the hell I'm doing."

"No one does when they are finding themselves fawning over their first love."

First love, is that what Killer was? You thought about him and your insides twisted in on themselves at the thought of his sly smiles and smart attitude. He was dangerously good looking and...sweet. He was the one man to treat you like a real equal and see your skills as what they were. Shit. You did love him.

"I'm not fawning over him."

"No, I think you're playing the long game though. Do yourself a favor and stop overthinking things. It'll all happen as it needs to." Delilah said with a definitive nod.

You chuckled as you cleaned up the last of the dishes. "Okay, okay. I'll try that."

Your phone buzzed away in your pocket and you looked to see Ivankov have texted back. There was a big job for the dragon in a week. One that could pay everything you'd owe and more. Looks like the clients didn't lose all their faith with the last failed job.

"I can do that." You murmured to yourself. It'd be hard, but it'd make for one hell of a redemption.