Not long after letting Fait know they were safe, the three men finally were able to set out for the city in the Trackhawk.
Chance sent her a quick text message to let her know it would be late by the time he made it home.
They were at least an hour an a half outside of the city. So, their plan was to drop Koty off first since he lived in an old row-home in the outskirts with Nevada.
In the end it took them almost two hours to make it to Koty's place because of a massive road construction project. The detour took them miles out of their way, adding another half hour to their drive.
Lola expertly guided the SUV through the narrow side streets and alleys of Koty's rundown neighborhood.
Koty smiled softly when he saw Nevada had left the porch light on for him. She would probably scold him for coming home so late.
He had told Nevada that he was working a desk job. There was no way he'd be home at almost midnight with a regular office job. Most likely she had already figured out that he had stretched the truth a bit. That or she thought he went out with his friends.
What she didn't know is that he'd given up on all of his old friends. There were a few guys he thought of as brothers and he'd still check in with them from time to time. But, his days of running around recklessly ended a couple of years ago.
About five years ago, Koty almost died of alcohol poisoning while he was out with some of the other neighborhood ruffians. Nev completely broke down and it crushed him.
He quit everything after that. No more smoking. No more playing around with what ever drugs the guys had. No more drinking.
For a couple of years after that, he kept fighting. That still meant a lot of late nights staying out and hanging around those same people.
He tried to get them to change but it was no use. Even after a guy died from an overdose, they just kept on going the the same way.
Koty said goodbye to Chance and Lola and went inside the old house.
Even though the living room was dark, he could still make out his sister's sleeping figure on the sofa.
"Sis?" He spoke softly so he wouldn't startle her. "Nev, Are you still awake? You shouldn't sleep out here."
She stirred for a moment before rolling over and going back to sleep.
Koty sighed and carefully lifted her up off of the sofa.
He carried her to her own room and tucked her into her bed.
...
Lola finally pulled up to Chance's apartment building and dropped him off.
Chance trudged inside and went up the elevator. It had been a long day and he wanted nothing more than to just go to sleep.
Stepping into his apartment, he was shocked to see a woman sleeping on his couch.
She was curled up against the arm of the couch like a little kitten and there were some documents spread across the coffee table. A dim lamp she had left on gave off a warm comfortable feeling.
"Fait?" He whispered.
"Mmmm?" She let out a cute little moan.
"Fait?" He tried calling her again, a little louder this time.
"Hmm, what?" She slowly opened her eyes and then froze. Her ears turned so red they almost glowed in the dark.
She tried to hide her embarrassment by elegantly sitting up and smoothing her blouse.
"Umm... I just... I didn't hear from any of you and I..." She was still groggy and struggled to explain what she was doing there.
"Let's talk in the morning. You can use the guestroom again for tonight."
"No, that's alright. I need to get going." She started gathering the papers that were scattered about and prepared to leave.
Chance walked over and gently took the documents from her and set them back on the table. He stooped down so he was eye to eye with her.
"It is late, you are clearly exhausted, I am too exhausted to argue. Just go to bed." He tried to sound as serious as he could, while being as nonthreatening as possible, so she would stay. It would be safer for her to leave in the morning when the sun was up and she would be more alert.
She held eye contact with him for what felt like an eternity before she gave in.
"Alright."
He called out to her right before she reached the guest bedroom.
"And Fait?"
"Yes?" She turned to look at him.
"Thanks for waiting up." He gave her a gentle smile and started to walk towards his room.
She just nodded and calmly went into the bedroom, closing the door behind her.
'What's with that?' She leaned her back against the door and slid down to the floor.