"Fuck me." You groaned, searching your bag hastily.

Your keys were missing and you didn't notice it until now since Alec had the door already unlocked for you when you got home yesterday. You let out a sigh and closed your eyes, thinking of when you could have lost them.

The garage.

You fell over after running into that Luffy guy and Kid was kicking your stuff around. There was a good chance your keys got pushed around then and with the attitude the two of you had, it wasn't surprising that you didn't take the time to make sure you had everything before leaving. If Killer hadn't left yet you could ask him about it, asking the landlord to make you a spare would be a pain.

You left your apartment door unlocked, just in case you were being an idiot and they were still there, and headed down to the second floor. Sure enough, Killer was heading down the next flight of stairs. You were able to catch up to him on the first floor, a little out of breath. He had long legs and was difficult to catch up to.

"Uh, Killer was it?" You approached cautiously.

He turned to face you silently, shaggy bangs covering his eyes.

"I'm missing something important and I think it may be in the garage you work at. It must have fallen out of my bag yesterday and I didn't notice."

"What're you looking for?" He asked, waving you along to join him.

"My keys..." It was the worst thing you could lose.

"Kid found a spare set so that's probably it. They should be in our office."

You breathed a sigh of relief. "You're my hero right now."

He grunted in response but you didn't miss the slight smile that played across his lips. You walked with him in silence the rest of the way to the shop. It would've felt awkward normally but he was always this quiet around you and you had a lot on your mind as it was. You were going to call Alec later and meet up with him for your talk.

Or so you thought.

You were confused as to what he was doing in the exact same place you were going, even more so when you noticed the woman he had with him. Without thinking, you tugged the back of Killer's shirt, making him pause to look at you before entering the garage. He still didn't say anything but he checked your line of sight and nodded. It didn't take much for him to catch on.

You leaned against the opening of the building, watching your soon to be ex wrap an arm around the orange haired woman's waist as he talked with Kid. An unfamiliar car was parked inside, probably belonging to the woman and if you had to guess, he was either picking her up while it got worked on or paying for the labor himself.

Kid stopped talking with Alec when he noticed you and Killer, raising a non-existent eyebrow at the two of you.

"When did you get all buddy buddy with her Killer?" He asked, much more nicely than he had yet to talk to you.

The look on Alec's face when he turned around was priceless. It made you wish you had thought about pulling out your phone for a picture.

"Uh, (Y-Y/n) what are you doing here?" He quickly withdrew from the girl and she turned with a puzzled expression.

"Killer can you get those keys so I can make sure they're mine? I have to take care of something real fast." You smiled up at the man but he noticed how angry you were.

"Sure." He nodded and brushed past the group.

"Do you know her?" The other woman was beginning to catch on. He was playing you both.

"N-no, I don't." He tried to play it off but he was practically sweating bullets.

"Really?" You strode confidently into the building and stood in front of him, hand outreached. "Give me the spare key, we're done."

"Hold on!" He sputtered as his orange haired lady friend slapped him.

"So you had another girlfriend?! You ass! Your money isn't worth this bullshit." She spat the words at him, just as angry as you.

"He's a real piece of work, ain't he?" You asked her, still waiting for the key.

"You could say that again." She glared at him as he meekly gave you what you wanted.

Killer came back with your keychain in hand. "This what you're looking for?"

"That's it, thanks Killer." You accepted it from him, added the spare from Alec to it.

"Do yourself a favor and get lost." You snapped at the man. "What a waste of fucking air." You watched him scamper away, unable to defend himself from you or his other ex love interest.

"What a way to start the day." Kid chuckled.

"No one asked you!" The orangette said before turning to you. "Can we talk?"

"Sure." You shrugged. It was the weekend and you were originally planning on spending the day getting to know the area better but getting to hear her side of the story was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

"I'll be back for my ride later today Kid." She walked out with you.

"We can go to my place if you like, it's close by." You didn't mind having her over. Stranger or not, she was in the same situation as you.

"There's actually a hole in the wall cafe near here I've been wanting to try."

You got the hint, she didn't want to join someone she just met in their home. It made sense but you weren't fully accustomed to city life and hadn't thought about that.

"That sounds good, I could go for a cup of coffee after that." You grimaced, focusing on the anger instead of the want to cry.

She took you to a place that was only a couple blocks from your apartment building. It was a quaint little shop with a rustic feel inside and out, definitely out of place in the city, but welcoming as well. It was an aesthetic you were used to living around, coming from a more rural area yourself.

Once you'd both ordered something and got comfortable at a table off in a more private corner of the shop, she started off.

"I'm Nami by the way."

"(Y/n)." You smiled, offering her your hand.

She laughed lightly and shook it. "I'm glad you're so amicable about this."

"I can tell he had us both fooled, there's no point in starting something with you."

"That's true." She huffed, looking past the few people in the shop and out the window.

"So, how long were you with him?" You asked, taking a sip of your coffee. It was to die for and at a price so cheap it was almost robbery, you'd definitely be leaving home a little earlier each day to come here before work.

"About 4, maybe 5 months?" She tapped a finger to her lips as she thought. "You?"

"Three years."

"Ouch." She cringed. "Sorry, I guess I was the other woman in this scenario."

"What's done is done. That's just a lot of time wasted on a guy like him." You sighed, suddenly feeling like crying again.

You felt used. He was probably just looking for his fix of women and didn't care who it was from. And here you thought he actually cared.

Nami noticed how down you were and decided to try and lighten the mood a bit. "Real talk though, I don't think I've ever met such a shitty lover. He was not all that impressive in bed."

You broke into laughter, the ugly kind. "Yeah, that's what I've been thinking myself."

----

You and Nami spent the better part of the morning swapping stories about Alec's moments of stupidity. As you went you realized there was a lot of things he did wrong, but you were so blinded by your own infatuation with him to notice. He loved to hear himself talk non-stop and hardly made time for you. When he did, it was often to do things he enjoyed that you just tagged along for.

The few times when he acted like he cared were sprinkled in between all his terrible moments to smooth things out and make himself look like a better person than he really was. His best feature was he knew how to talk himself out of almost any bad situation. It was amazing how easily he was able to spend so long convincing you everything was fine. It wasn't until you moved closer to Nami that things started to feel fishy.

It was funny how the new job helped you out in more than one way. It still sucked now, you still wanted to go home and cry your eyes out, but it was better in the long run. He never planned to stick around and move in with you. When Alec talked about it, he was only stringing you along to believe everything was going well. Simply put, it was time to move on and focus on your own life. Hell, maybe once you felt a bit better about it you'd have a fling or two yourself. The possibilities were endless.

Nami was all in with the idea of having fun with a few men here and there. She made it sound like it was more along the lines of what she preferred doing instead of settling for one partner for as long as she did. When you asked her about why she dated Alec in the first place she gave you a priceless answer. She loved the money.

He liked giving his women gifts to keep them around and Nami liked getting the small items and allowances. Honestly you weren't even angry about it. It was downright funny that he was getting used just as much as you and Nami were. That made things feel a bit better for you.

"You're a pretty cool gal (Y/n)." Nami got up from her seat, ready to go see if Kid finished working on her car.

"You're not half bad yourself Nami." You chuckled and got up as well. There was still exploring to be done along with a bit of grocery shopping.

"Here, give me your number so we can stay in touch. I like the idea of making a friend out of this." She winked and gave your her phone. You gladly punched in your information and let her do the same for you so you'd be able to message her as well.

"Thanks for the talk, it really clears some stuff up for me."

"Same here. I'll see you another time." She left and you sat around a little longer before doing the same, heading further into the heart of the city to see what could catch your eye. You deserved a bit of free time to yourself after that.

The further into the city you got the less sketchy it seemed. There were no more rundown buildings squeezed together to fit into tiny plots of land, instead there were high quality shops and spacious, clean streets. It was a far cry from the area you lived in and unfortunately, also very outside your budget. There were plenty of things you found you wanted, dresses, treats, makeup, accessories, but all cost an arm and a leg. So you settled for window shopping, dreaming about the nice things you'd like to have if you were rich.

Thoughts of Alec crossed your mind from time to time but you did your best to ignore them. You could dwell on that when you got home. Until then, you took the time to focus on enjoying yourself and the possibilities presented with being single again.

When it started getting late you made your final stop, hitting up the nearby grocery store for a few things before heading back home. Conveniently enough, it was along the same route you took to get to work, leading you past the clinic and the garage as you headed back to the apartment complex. Both looked closed as you passed them. The lights were out in the clinic, the inside matching the darkness of night that had enveloped the city. The garage was closed up tightly and you doubted the guys were up working this late though it wouldn't have been a huge shock if they were. From what you could tell, they may have been rude but they were hard workers.

Your breath came out in chilly puffs as it hit the air and you swung your grocery bags around lazily. The streets were empty, leaving you to your thoughts without having to maneuver through a throng of people like you usually had to during the day. It was quieter than usual as well, the only sounds being your own feet scuffing against the pavement and a lone dog barking off in the distance. You could say it was even peaceful.

"Ah!" You jumped as a cold liquid suddenly dripped down your head.

"Sorry, didn't see you there little lady." You smelled his breath before you saw the man.

He was half laughing, half wheezing as he stepped out of the alley, empty beer bottle in hand. The man reeked of alcohol and some other underlying rancid smell that made you turn up your nose involuntarily. He was overweight, with a large beer belly hanging over the hem of his pants and his dirty blonde hair was greased back. As he smiled fiendishly, you could see all his yellowed and rotten teeth.

This was the kind of person you didn't need to be sticking around with. If you didn't find an excuse to get away quickly things could go south fast.

"It's fine, don't worry about it." You clipped your words, trying not to provoke him as you backed away.

"Oh no I insist, let me help you clean up." He laughed again, this time grabbing you by the wrist and harshly yanking you closer.

"I said I'm fine!"

You struggled to get out of his grip but he was strong. Then you swung your bags from your free hand into his face, kneeing him in the groin at the same time.

He let out a low groan from the pain, loosening his hold on you enough for you to jerk free and turn tail. You were going to run, take a few twists and turns to make sure he wouldn't follow you home, but he recovered quickly, snagging your bag and pulling it hard enough to drag you to the ground. Your head hit the concrete of the sidewalk, throwing you into a daze as you tried to lift yourself up on your elbows, a pained whine passing your lips.

"You're going to pay for that bitch." He bent over, grabbing you by the bicep with one hand and taking a fistful of hair with the other.

You kicked and struggled weakly, dizzy from the fall, as he dragged you back into the alley. This was it. You were going to be raped and murdered by some homeless, drunken lunatic.

"And here I thought we could play nice." He snickered as he straddled you, pulling out a pocket knife.

You swung at him but it was too slow. He simply grabbed your face and slammed your head into the ground. You groaned as the dizzy feeling became overwhelming and you were overcome with accompanying nausea. The feeling of cold metal ran down your neck and across your collar bone before it became more sharp, biting into the flesh between your breasts. You cried out and were immediately met with more laughter.

"Oh we're going to have fun here dollface."

All you could do was close your eyes and hope he'd make it quick.