Rosaline hesitated in the doorway, a little surprised heâd held it open for her. It wasn't new, he was always perfectly polite, but it was still...surprising. She murmured a soft âThanks,â shifting the bags in her arms as she stepped past him, the scent of takeout and fresh produce wafting faintly in her wake.
When he spokeâactually spokeâher brows lifted slightly. It still threw her off when he did that. She didnât expect it, not because he was rude, but because her neighbor was the type of man who didnât waste words. Her gaze flicked over his face as he looked up from the mail, then down to the bags cradled against her chest. That offerâquiet, casual, but sincereâmade something tighten in her chest in a way she didnât quite understand.
Most men offered help like it was currency, something they could cash in for your number or your time or a favor later on. But Bryceâs offer wasnât transactional. It felt like... consideration. Just a simple kindness. Sheâd forgotten what that felt like. Still, her instinct was to deflect. To say she had it. She always had it.
But she didnât lie to herselfâher arms were burning a little, and the stairs were already laughing at her from the corner of her eye. So instead, she let out a soft breath, then nodded once. âSure. If you donât mind.â There was a flicker of a smileânot much, barely thereâbut something softened behind her eyes. Gratitude, maybe. Or just relief that for once, someone was walking beside her instead of bleeding in her backseat. "Might even be some kung pao chicken in it for you."
He'd expected some kind of hesitation from her. Maybe because he knew the kind of impression he left with people - at best, one of a man who distinctly didn't like to be bothered. That could make kindness seem like the type of thing that was too foreign to him for any offer of it to be believed. There was a notion felt that if his mother was still here it would have broken her heart that he'd turned out that way. But then if she were still with him everything would be different. Maybe he wouldn't resent the world as much.
But it wasn't just the opinion of him he'd created for her in his mind that had made him expect some kind of deliberation. There'd been a certain level of interest sparked since he'd seen one of the Sons speaking to her, a rare protective spark kindled when what little he knew about her seemed to point to the fact she was too good to be wrapped up in that world. His world. The extra attention paid meant that he'd notice things. Seen the way that she seemed to take things upon herself. Noted the fact that she was always pouring for everyone else but no one ever seemed to fill her up.
Maybe that had made him offer. Not because he thought he was the kind of saviour she deserved ( not a hero at all, really ) but because he thought someone should. And in the seeming absence of anyone else he'd fill the void until someone inevitably better appeared. "I don't." Affirming that he'd meant it, though stopping short of pointing out that he wouldn't have offered if he hadn't, flickering smile returned as he took some of the bags from her arms.
Their spaces merged for a brief moment though he was careful not to intrude anymore than he had to, limbs only briefly brushing as he relieved her of as many bags as he could. "From which spot?" More to make conversation than because the answer would really have any impact. He had long since grown content with silence but he knew that other might not feel as comfortable trudging up several flights of stairs without a word said between them.














