The first time Rowan saw Silme’s apartment wasn’t until they were two months in to their relationship. Her place had always been out of the way, so they spent most of their time at Rowan’s nice apartment. She had told him there wasn’t much to see at her place, anyways. It wasn’t in the best part of town. Rowan didn’t really grasp what she meant until the night they finally went back to her place.
They had eaten dinner at a new restaurant not too far from her place. It made sense to go back to her house for the night. And so Rowan drove them down the dark, dirty streets of her neighborhood in his sleek and completely out-of-place Audi R8. Rowan’s eyes took in the dingy, grungy sights of the neighborhood. She wasn’t kidding when she said there wasn’t much to see.
“I would make sure the alarm is on,” Silme instructed as they got out of the car. “A ride like this will definitely attract attention. And not the good kind.”
Rowan furrowed his eyebrows but said nothing.
Silme lead him down the sidewalk. As they walked, Rowan look at the street around him. Only half the streetlights were working; the rest flickered on and off. Broken fences trailed the sidewalk, the ground was cracked, and sounds of a cat - or even a man - rooting through garbage could be heard down one of the passing alleyways. The buildings were squished together with no front lawns, no privacy, and what alleyways they did have were dark and most likely housed a homeless person or two.
A man leaned against one of the streetlights that didn’t work. He smiled at Silme as she walked past him. “Hey there, little thing. Where are you off to at such an hour?”
“Don’t mind him, he’s harmless,” Silme muttered to Rowan, ignoring the man. This was clearly not her first encounter with him. As they passed the man, Rowan stared him down with a stone expression. The dirty smirk fell from his face.
“This one.” Silme lead him to a building that was just as dirty and cracked as the rest. threRowan noticed she had not pulled out her keys. Instead, she simply opened the door and walked inside.
“Don’t you have a lock?” he asked.
“Not really,” she answered. Silme disappeared inside the dark home and three furry creatures darted out. Rowan flinched, stepping out of their way. Damn cats. He had to date the one woman in the world who owned a thousand stray animals.
He finally slipped into her home. With a soft click, a light in the corner turned on, illuminating Silme along with half the room. She went about the room turning on lamps one by one. Rowan stood just inside the doorway, eyes beholding the sight before him.
The place was a dump.
Not in the messy, sloppy kind of way, but the get-murdered-and-not-be-found-until-a-week-later kind of way. The apartment was small; nothing more than a living room, a kitchen in the corner, and a door for the bedroom. Several small cracks lined the walls, the wallpaper was peeling in the corners, and there were no bars on the windows considering the neighborhood she lived in. The floor in the center of the room dipped down a level, creating a square pit. Silme had filled it with dozens of pillows varying in sizes. Her “Pillow Pit”, as she called it. It looked like the safest place in the entire neighborhood. A cat sat on top of a pile of pillows, casually licking its belly.
“I know it’s nothing like your place - I mean, your bedroom is bigger than my entire apartment - but it works.” Silme finished turning on the last lamp, revealing one large crack in the corner. She turned to Rowan. He stood in the same spot, looking around the apartment before him. Finally, his eyes landed on Silme.
“No.”
She blinked. “What?”
Without another word, he walked out the door.
“Rowan?...Rowan!” Silme called, darting after him. She hurried up to him as he walked back down the sidewalk. “Hey, what is the matter with you?”
“We are going back to my place,” he calmly declared, eyes focused forward.
“What?"
“I won’t stay there.”
Silme crossed her arms. Her shorter legs had a hard time keeping up with his fast, determined pace. “What is your problem? It’s just an apartment, Rowan. If you’re afraid of the neighbors, I think I should remind you that, given your current profession, you can take them. Maybe not their whole gang, but still.”
Rowan gave her a sideways look. His expression was void of all humor. Unlocking the car with his remote, he pulled the driver’s side open, then faced Silme. “Get in the car.”
She looked at him like he had gone crazy. Which, as far as she was concerned, he had. “No. It’s late, Rowan. Just suck it up for a night and stay with me. You can have the bedroom if it means that much to you.”
“Silme, get in the damn car.”
“I said no, you ass. Would you please stop being dramatic and come back inside? It’s freezing out here.”
He stared at her, face hard. “Either you get in this damn car right now, or I’m leaving without you. Your choice.”
She squared her shoulders.
Rowan let out a frustrated sigh. “Fine.” Slamming the car door behind him, the Audi purred to life, then took off, leaving Silme alone on the cold, dark sidewalk..
She didn’t see him again for four days.
He didn’t call. He didn’t text. After day three, Silme finally went down to Rowan’s office to see what the hell was up with him. Hutch was the only one down there. He informed her that Rowan was assigned an undercover case for a few days. That explained part of his absence, but that still didn’t explain why he didn’t contact the other few days. Feeling angry and betrayed, Silme stormed out of their office, only to be stopped by Hutch.
“I would give him a chance if I were you,” Hutch had advised. “I know you are angry, but trust me. I have a feeling you won’t regret it.”
The next day, which happened to be her day off, there was a knock on her door.
She looked up from her pillow pit. No one ever knocked on her door. Silme had a good guess as to who was standing on the other side of the door. If she was right, then he had guts coming to her home turf. Setting her drawing pad aside, Silme climbed out of the pit and opened the door.
Yeah. It was him.
“What the hell do you want?” Silme greeted not so warmly.
A hint of surprised crossed Rowan’s features. He must not have expected such a cold welcome. “I want you to come with me.”
Silme crossed her arms, staring him down. “And why should I do that?”
“Is being your boyfriend not good enough a reason?”
Her eyebrows knitted together. “I wouldn’t be quick to assume we’re still dating if I were you. Four days, Rowan. You haven’t contacted me in four days. Where the hell have you been?”
“On assignment in Los Angeles. You know I can’t call you when I’m undercover. I didn’t get home until yesterday afternoon, anyway.”
“And you just now remembered we were dating and thought you would, what, drop by and creepily ask me to go somewhere with you? Fat chance, D’Barbarac.”
Rowan let out a sigh. “Look, I was busy all day yesterday. Busy doing the thing that I now want you to come with me to see. Can you please stop giving me that face and come with me?”
“You just left me. You wouldn’t tell me what was wrong, got in your car, and drove away. I still don’t know why.”
“Okay, you’re angry. I get it. But I will explain everything if you just get in that damn car.”
Silme had half a mind to slam the door in his face. No call, no note, not even a lousy message left with Hutch. And then he just shows up and expects her to pretend that everything was fine? Silme never had a real relationship before, but she was pretty sure boyfriends shouldn’t treat their girlfriends that way. In the back of her mind, however, Hutch’s words floated about. I would give him a second chance if I were you. I have a feeling you won’t regret it.
Letting out a frustrated sigh, she caved. “Okay. But it better be good.”
Rowan smiled. She retrieved her jacket and followed him to his truck.
They didn’t speak the entire way. Silme was still angry at him. No matter what he had waiting for her, it was not going to excuse his actions.
Rowan drove them to a nicer part of the city. She rarely came to this part of town except when Rowan took her out for dinner. The apartments in this area were a lot more than Silme could ever dream of affording, that much she knew. They parked on the street in front of a tall apartment structure. Offering no explanations yet, Rowan lead her inside.
He briefly spoke with the security guard inside the door. The foyer was bigger than Silme’s living room. It had a nice seating area fully equipped with a couch, several chairs and a coffee table. The foyer alone gave a hint of how nice the apartments would be. This was no crummy apartment down in the lesser part of the city. This was where the wealthy businessmen or young couples lived.
The security guard handed something to Rowan. He nodded to the man, then turned to Silme, gesturing down the hallway to the left. Watching him carefully, she followed. He stopped halfway down the hallway. A plaque with the letters “1H” engraved in gold hung beside the door. Producing a key from his hand, Rowan paused to look at Silme. She raised an eyebrow at the smile he gave her. Finally unlocked the door and stepped inside, holding it open for her.
She stepped into an empty room. The place was big - at least the size of Rowan’s apartment, maybe bigger - with several doors leading to God know’s where and an archway leading to what Silme assumed was the kitchen. Staring in awe, she stepped across the bare hardwood floor.
“Rowan, what is this?” she asked, stepping through what she guessed was the living room.
“Our new apartment,” he answered.
Silme turned back to Rowan. He managed not to grin despite the the look on her face. “One bedroom, two and a half bath. It took me forever to find a place that was on the ground so your damn cats could get in and out. And, by the way, I had to pay the landlady a massive fee to let you keep all eight of those demons, so, you’re welcome. And don’t worry - I am getting a contractor in here later in the week to see what can be done about putting a pit in the living room.”
She blinked at him, shaking her head slightly. “What are you...”
“You can’t live in that hellhole anymore,” he cut her off. “It’s horrible. You deserve better than a gang-infested, meth-dealing neighborhood with peeling walls and cracked floors. And I sure as hell am not going to have a girlfriend that lives in a neighborhood with an eighty percent chance of being murdered every night. You didn’t even have a lock. So, being the amazing boyfriend I am, I bought us a new apartment. I considered you moving into mine but it was way too small to fit all your cats. This bedroom is much bigger, anyways.”
She was at a loss of words. She turned back to regard the bare apartment before her. Live here. With Rowan.
“If you don’t like it, then I’ll just find another one you do like. And if the whole living with me thing is a problem, well... then you are just going to have to either let me pay for a new apartment for you or break up with me now because there is no way on this planet I am going to let you live in that hellhole as long as you are my girlfriend. It’s not right. I’ll take those stupid cats if it means I get you out of there.”
“I love it,” Silme suddenly said.
A smile spread across Rowan’s face. He stepped forward to join her in the middle of the room. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” She smiled at him. Then she nailed him in the arm, hard.
Rowan flinched. He scowled, rubbing his arm. “Ow. What was that for?”
“I’m still mad at you. You haven’t apologized for storming off and then ignoring me for half a week. Jackass.”
“You knew well before this relationship I was a jackass. That’s your own fault,” he pointed out. She smiled slightly, but wiped it away. He sighed. “But you are right. I’m sorry. I should have called you the moment I got home. I guess I’m still trying to figure this whole boyfriend thing out.” He stepped closer to her and gave her his best remorseful pout. “Forgive me?”
Silme eyed him, crossing her arms. “You are still a jerk,” she said. He gave her a soft smile.
“Agreed,” he quietly conceded, grabbing her and pulling her in for a kiss. She gently smiled against his lips, returning the kiss as they stood in the middle of their brand new apartment.
