11Runaway
by throwingstars
She turned up on his doorstep with no last name, no address and no past. So what did he do? He took her in.
PROLOGUE
He knew it was too good to be true.
There was no way anyone would allow him a night of peace. He knew it and yet he had hoped otherwise. He was foolish for thinking it.
The pounding music that could usually be heard from below was absent- something he'd planned, knowing he'd have Thursday off.
Well here he was on Thursday night and he was severely regretting having ever decided to live above his bar. For once in very many years, he had been able to sleep until 2pm today. Then he opened the downstairs door at three for his manager so she could set up, made sure no live band was to play under any circumstances and went back up stairs.
A steak, 3 beers, 2 episodes of Blackadder the Third and he was asleep on the couch.
Now it was 10, he was sitting on the couch, bleary eyed and a little more than pissed that his staff couldn't handle things for one night.
He didn't smell smoke, so he knew the place wasn't burning down. Anything less than the fucking building falling down around him they should have known how to handle on their own.
If it weren't for the god awful knocking he'd lay back down and go back to dreamland.
Fuck it. He was their boss, he paid them well, never asked too much of them. If they couldn't handle one fucking night on their own, then he was ripping them a new one.
Figuratively, at least.
Still exhausted and fully clothed, he made his way across his living room into the slightly boxed-in short hall to the front door.
He opened it with a growl, ready to ream into whichever employee was on the other side.
He stopped short. He stared down at the person who was definitely not an employee.
Standing in his doorway was a girl, young and looking like she'd swam the ocean to get there.
Maybe five inches shorter than him, but still standing pretty tall for a girl, she stayed still and didn't speak right away. She was cold, water dripping down her chest length hair further drenching her already soaked clothes, and she had no idea what to say to the man in front of her.
More than a little surprised, he took a moment to study her before thinking of anything to say. Her purple zip-up hoodie was stained a darker color by the rain, visible under an unzipped leather jacket. A hat sagged against her dark hair and her black jeans had randomly placed rips. He wondered if they natural or an effort to be trendy. Her converse were a faded pink and had obviously seen better days- he had some just like them, minus the pink. Her back was straight, almost stiff and her face was downturned, hiding her soft features.
Her clothes were dripping from every edge, soaking the floor at the doorway but he hardly noticed in his examination of her.
What the fuck?
Before he could repeat it out loud, she took a deep breath and lifted her eyes without moving her head, her eyelashes hiding the emotions there. Her straight across bangs dripped water into her eyes, but she didn't seem to notice this just as she didn't seem to notice the cold.
"Hi."
Just had to get this out, it's been kicking around my head for awhile. More to come. Read and review! x TS