Page 56 of Encounter

I cringed, imagining the pain, and felt stupid for jumping into conclusions.How selfish are you? He could’ve been dead!“I’m glad you’re okay,” I whispered, hoping I didn’t sound as upset as I was for him.

Broken ribs... Could that be fatal? Was Chast in danger, staying all by himself?

Even though my cheeks burned and hands buzzed as I tried to digest the thought of Chast dying alone in his place, I cleared my throat to speak again. “It’s okay, I’ll go back home. I’ll... get a taxi.”

“I woke up just now, kid. I really didn’t think I would’ve slept all day.” He sounded like he caught on the disappointment and hurt in my voice which I tried to hide.

“It’s fine, I said... that it’s okay. You should rest,” I assured him, as convincingly as I could. There was a pause as I waited for him to agree and say goodbye. In fact, the silence was stretching for so long, I halfway worried if Chast hadn't passed out in there. “Ch—”

“Hey, listen,” he interrupted me, voice low and unusually hesitant. “I know I promised you trainin’, so how about you... get to mine and— I can give you some beer or somethin’, as a sorry for the wasted time you could’ve spent at home, playing that little piano of yours.”

Blinking, I stared ahead of me. Was he... asking me to hang out at his place?

“I can tell you about some boring, self-defense theory-shit,” he added after I didn’t respond.

The thought of what he offered made me nauseous and indescribably thrilled at the same time. “Are.... Are you sure?” I asked, drawing my brows together.

Maybe he’s on pain meds. He probably doesn’t know what he’s saying.

“I...” he hesitated, pausing. That wasn’t like Chast at all. “Yeah. Fuck! Yeah, I asked you to, didn't I?” he blurted but regretted it right away, judging by the painful groan. “Get a taxi, I can send you my address. That is if you really wanna come. You don’t have to, obviously,” he assured me.

Should I refuse?Training was one thing, but chilling in his apartment? I must have been going mad—we both were.

“I’ll come,” finally, I said it, letting out a shaky breath. I wanted to see him and to feel that familiarity again. I missed his presence the entire week. However awkward or potentially dangerous going to his place was, it outweighed the idea of coming back home to an empty house to do nothing—to be left with my thoughts.

“Alright, I’ll text you the address.” Was it in my head, or did he sound happy? “Get that spooked expression off your face before gettin’ into the taxi, alright?” he added, chuckling.

“Are you saying I’m going to get mugged?”

His laugh was interrupted by an agonizing-sounding wheezing and a cough. “Just get here,” he mumbled tiredly but still sounded like he was smiling. After he hung up, I stood in the street for a moment, trapped in a dream-like trance, until the phone buzzed again with the message.

It’s actually happening.

Doing my best at following Chast’s advice, I kept a straight, serious face throughout the taxi ride, even though the anxiety crawled up my back, making my throat dry and stomach curl.

I hoped for a moment of peace before going in, to calm myself and get my shit together before seeing Chast, but when we turned into the street leading to his apartment, I noticed him standing outside of the door, leaning against the wall. He held himself as proudly as always, but perhaps not so high. A man like him probably didn’t like to show any weakness, but he clearly wasn’t in his twenties anymore to simply shake it off.

God, this is going to be a mess... Am I really doing this?!

After I pointed to him, the driver stopped in front of the entrance to the apartments. I started taking out my wallet to pay him for the ride, but Chast walked toward the car, knocking on the window. He passed the driver two bills and glanced at me with a nod.

Getting a feeling the man must have thought I was some underage escort going to see Chast, I gulped and quickly got out of the dingy car.

“I could’ve paid for it,” I told him in a low voice, cautiously studying his face.

“It’s fine. You can pay the drive back, hm?” Waving his hand, Chast finished his cigarette—taking a shallow, careful breath—and stomped it on the ground. I wasn’t going to argue with an injured man, so I stayed quiet and followed him inside of the building.

Last time I was here, I only saw the outside. Now, I followed out-of-breath Chast up the stairs. Shivers ran down my spine and my gut twisted, like I was being shown to some mob hideout. My mind danced with ideas of how his place will look. Dirty and old? Or modern, hidden behind the illusion of living in a shithole like this?

“I’m pretty sure it’s not advisable to smoke when you break your ribs,” I noted in a low voice, after we got up the first two levels. Seemed like his apartment was on the very top.

“Worried ‘bout me?” Chast looked over his shoulder with a smirk, but the moment his torso twisted to a certain point, he twitched and turned back. At least he didn’t see the stupid, faint smile it put on my lips. “Fuck... Yeah—you’re probably right. I only ever smoked when I wasn’t deployed, or out on a contractor gig.” I thought he would have kept quiet, considering walking up a few of those stairs was taking him more effort than it should, but he kept going. “Well, that used to be most of the time, for a few years. Now... Huh, yeah, I should probably quit, ey?”

Finally arriving at the stop, Chast rested his arm against the only door in the small hallway. Seeing how I watched him catch his breath with worry, he grimaced.

“Think the injection they gave me is startin’ to fade. Better load myself with Percocet. Anyway.” Pausing, he unlocked the door, letting it fly open. “Welcome to my gun-filled, blood-soaked, sex dungeon!” He teased me with a grin.

Even knowing he was joking, I couldn’t help but look as anxious and unsure as always—judging by his satisfied expression. Taking a few slow steps, I finally got in and to my surprise, what I saw was shockingly...normal.

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