Bethany's Apartment

[Beth]

Continued from:Flowers for All

As soon as entered the apartment, Beth locked the door behind her, putting her keys on the edge of the coffee table and giving a yawn as she moved through the living room, turning on lights as she went. She had stuff in the kitchen for sandwiches, so, not having to worry about opening the door for a delivery guy, she decided to go ahead and change into her nightgown. Maybe I'll see what's on TV while I eat. Probably nothing good, but a girl can hope. Smirking slightly to herself, she went into the bedroom to change.

[Beth]

Wearing her ankle length, sky blue cotton nightgown and her dark blue terrycloth robe unbelted over it, Beth padded barefoot into the kitchen, switching on the light. With her hair still pulled back from work- it always seemed to get in her face when it was down, especially when she was trying to work or eat- she went over to the refrigerator and pulled it open, studying the contents.

With the complete inability to actually cook anything edible, she was stuck with eating something that required no cooking whatsoever, ordering in or going out to eat. Even things that could be fixed in the microwave seemed destined to come out badly for her, despite the fact that she always followed cooking instructions to the letter. She had long since determined that she was simply not meant to cook and had given up trying.

[Beth]

With two large turkey sandwiches, a bad of Doritos and a can of root beer balanced in her hands, Beth moved back to the living room and settled on the sofa, putting her food and drink on the coffee table before picking up the TV remote from the end table next to her and switching on the television. She opened up the bag of chips and nibbled at one thoughtfully as she switched through stations, trying to find something that looked like it was worth watching. She knew that she could always read if she failed to find something good on- the bookshelf in the corner of the living room was crammed with everything from science fiction to a few guilty pleasure romances. That, however, was a last resort. She really didn’t feel like reading.

Maybe if I bothered with a social life, I wouldn’t be in this situation, she thought to herself as she switched stations again. The truth was that Beth was lonely, but not so lonely that it kept her from enjoying what she did and where she was in life. Certainly she could have friends if she wanted to, but she was usually far too preoccupied with the shop to worry about such things. Even so, when she was all tucked away in her apartment for the night, she could not help but think about how empty and silent it was. Maybe I should look into getting a pet. Not that that was likely. She worked too much and it wouldn’t be fair to keep an animal cooped up in the apartment all day with nothing to do.

Settling on something to watch, Beth put the remote aside and shifted slightly on the sofa, picking up one of her sandwiches. Dinner, a little TV and then sleep was what the night held for her, just as it usually did.

[Beth]

Post Skip

She had gotten up and around early just like she always did on the days she worked at the shop. Beth tended to prefer being there when the daily shipment of flowers came in so she could get them into the storage room quickly and start getting them set out immediately. It was simply a peace of mind thing for her, but it worked, so she didn’t worry about it. Dressed in a pair of black jeans, a simple dark blue blouse and her comfortable white sneakers, Beth was ready for work. She had her hair back in a braid so that it would stay out of her face while she worked and, as soon as she grabbed the black messenger bag that she used as a purse and picked up her keys from where she had left them, she was out the door and ready for another’s day of work.

Continued at: Flowers For All

[Beth]

^{POST TIMESKIP}

Sitting on the floor, her back against the sofa and the coffee table shoved up against the wall and out of the way, Beth watched the silent movie that she had found playing on a cable station and could not help but notice the growling of her stomach. It was, she thought, getting about time to grab her cell phone and call someone up in order to tell them to bring over some food. The question was, though, what should she order? There were almost too many options, but she was sure that something could be figured out. She had introduced Tobin to practically everything that could be ordered in or didn’t involve enough cooking for her to completely ruin it, so she was running out of such things to introduce him to. Luckily, there were still a lot of sweets that he had not yet really had the opportunity to try, such as the ice cream cake that was currently occupying the freezer and was slated for desert.

She had, honestly, been having a great deal of fun introducing him to new things, whether they were something to eat or something to do. Things that had seemed mundane to her for years were suddenly completely new and exciting when she allowed herself to see them through his eyes and that made the world a great deal more interesting. It was, in a way, like seeing it all again for the very first time and remembering how exciting it had all once been.

When a commercial break started, she picked up her cell phone from where she had put it on the end table closest to her and started looking through the numbers, stopping at one that seemed promising. “I think it’s getting to be about dinnertime. How about pizza?”

[Tobin]

Tobin liked the silent movies best, when everything was clear and laid out for you. It was easy to spot the good guys and the bad guys and there was no double crossing that wasn't seen a mile away, no unexpected and unpleasant surprises when someone you had perhaps liked turned out to be the bad guy. He didn't like those movies and shows, where everyone was a shade of grey and nobody was really good but plenty could be evil. Maybe it was more in line with how the world actually was, but from what little he could gain of understanding when it came to television, the whole point seemed to be a way to escape from the world. Why then would you want to be reminded of all the terrible things and terrible people that could happen?

Far better to lose yourself in something simple and easy to understand, where the good guys wore white hats and the bad guys black.

These three weeks had been something of a revelation for Tobin, learning bit by bit things about the world that no doubt seemed so simple and obvious to those like Beth. People weren't always out to get you, they didn't always have to die and perhaps the most startling discovery of all was that there was more to humans than The First One had claimed. It seemed almost blasphemous, even after weeks of not seeing his Alpha to even think that, but perhaps, Sheppard had been... wrong. He trembled a little at that thought, almost expecting the wolf to appear out of nowhere, having heard his thought and smite him down. It was Beth who spoke instead though, dragging him out of those thoughts and into the very pleasing ones of what they were going to eat tonight.

"Oh, could we get pizza with sweet chill chicken?" It was probably no surprise that Tobin had latched onto the pizza topping which had a sweet, almost desert like flavour to it.

[Beth]

Ever since she had discovered Tobin’s affinity towards silent movies- and especially his dislike of particularly violent ones- Beth had been putting her dvdr to work on a regular basis, recording the movies or shows she doubted Tobin would have any interest in and watching them at a later time. It was no hardship- she could skip over commercials!- and she could always take the disc to work with her and watch it on her laptop during the lulls in business. Honestly, it worked out quite well that way. It ensured that she would have something to keep herself entertained with when there was nothing to do at the shop but wait around until someone came in and that Tobin wouldn’t be exposed to anything he disliked in the more modern movies and television shows. She, personally, thought things worked out extremely well. In that way, they both got to enjoy the sort of shows they liked to watch, though she couldn’t complain about the silent movies. Well, most of the time, anyway. It was occasionally hard to keep from snickering when she gave the people in them particularly stupid lines in her head.

Over the past few weeks, every spare minute had been spent introducing Tobin to the things she had thought he might enjoy. There had been museum trips, a carnival excursion complete with some of the tamer rides and plenty of games and food, a couple of shopping trips and a few dinners out. There was still so much left that she wanted him to try out, but she couldn’t seem to get it all fit in. Beth could only hope that she still had time, but there was a little part of her that kept reminding her that he could leave just as easily as he had come, so she tried to fit in as much as possible without overwhelming him, just in case he suddenly decided it was time to leave.

At Tobin’s question about the pizza topping, she smiled, even as she hit the button to call the pizza place. “You bet we can.” Did she spoil him? Perhaps, but she saw no harm in it.

[Tobin]

People pretending to be one thing, only to turn out another, it confused him, upset him. Perhaps it was somewhat hypocritical of him, considering that he was a werewolf, something that by its very definition appeared one thing only to be another. It didn’t matter what form he took, if he was man or wolf, there would always be the second side of him, that secret shadow that was another part. Tobin had always believed – always been taught to believe, with fists and claws and teeth – that his wolf side was his ‘real’ side, that it was the stronger, more useful side, that he was nothing without the animal that growled in his chest and those without the wolf; those that were only human, were nothing. Were pale reflections, unimportant, worthy only of being killed.

Now though, now Tobin wasn’t so sure, wasn’t sure if being a wolf all the time was what he was supposed to be, if people who didn’t have a wolf were somehow less. He still preferred his other form, more often than not sleeping as a large white wolf, simply unable to relax any other way. Tobin really couldn’t relax on the bed soft he had been given, he had never had anything close to a bed before and the softness was confusing. Invariably, through the night, bit by bit, Tobin would find himself on the floor, creeping closer to Beth’s room, finally sleeping by her door, both comforted by the knowledge she was close and that he could guard her in this location.

Tobin knew he should leave really, he should never have stayed, shouldn’t have stayed for so long but when it came right down to it, Tobin didn’t want to go, didn’t want to leave Beth behind. Smile grew on his features, soft and shy, always surprised and pleased when she let him make a choice, when she actually listened to his choice. Pizza with sweet chilli chicken on, bliss.

[Beth]

In real life, people pretending to be one way and turning out to be the complete opposite certainly upset Beth. It was something she didn’t tolerate well at all, though she wasn’t sure if anyone dealt with such things very well. For most, movies were one thing, but in life, in the real world, that was something you simply didn’t do if you wanted to avoid ticking people off. Beth didn’t see Tobin as he did. Both sides of him were equally as real as the others, the two combining to make one. The human shape was what she saw most often and, while it could have been easy to forget he was a werewolf, she didn’t let herself. That would have been forgetting part of him and that wasn’t fair to do to anyone.

Beth had only come across Tobin a couple of time while he was sleeping near her door, both times when she had woken up at what she called stupid o’clock in the morning, dying of thirst and on her way to the kitchen to get a glass of water. She had carefully stepped around him, not wanting to wake him if she could help it. She hadn’t brought up the fact that she had found him sleeping on the floor, not wanting to sound like she was accusing him of something. Beth hated the thought that he might be uncomfortable on the floor, but if he was sleeping at least fairly well, then she saw nothing wrong with it.

She knew that she shouldn’t have let herself get used to having him there, that little part of her just knowing that he was going to leave. She couldn’t keep him there and if he wanted to leave, she would have to respect that decision and let him go off to wherever it was that he would go. For the night, though, they could enjoy a night of movies, pizza and whatever she pulled out of the kitchen should they want some sort of snack later.

When the phone was answered, she let the woman on the other end give the pizza place’s usual greeting and ordered the pizzas- two large ones, just so she could be sure that Tobin got enough. Anything that was leftover could be put into the refrigerator. It wasn’t like it would go to waste and, even if some of it did, it was worth it.

[Tobin]

He had woken on those rare occasions that she had left her room, Tobin naturally a light sleep, a skill that was only heightened when he had someone like the First as a leader, as his Alpha and master. It paid to be able to wake at a moment’s instant, to go from sleep to complete alert and awareness. He never knew when his Alpha would call for him, when he would be needed either for a lesson or for a fight and Tobin had long ago lost count of the times he had woken to the feel of fists or feet against him, a savage beating on the sleeping Omega. So he woke at the sound of her movements, ears twitching a little and the male wolf could have moved, could have hidden so she wouldn’t know he had been sleeping there, or admitted he was awake. Tobin still didn’t know why he hadn’t moved that first time, why something inside of him had told him to trust her, to go out on a limb and give Beth some faith, some hope that she wouldn’t hurt him. It was still his duty to guard her and so he had let her move past him, head only rising once she was out of sight, every fibre of him straining to hear her, waiting for Miss. Beth to come back, pretending to sleep again when she did.

Tobin didn’t want to worry her, didn’t want her to feel guilty that she had woken him up and something inside of him told him that she would. That she was the type of person who would be concerned and feel bad about something like that. He had never met anyone like Beth before, anyone who would care and he had certainly never met anyone who would extend that care and worry to him.

It was all strange, all new, but by and large, Tobin liked this new world he had found himself in, liked the food, the lack of fear and pain, bit by bit settling down in it. Most of all, he liked her, liked Miss. Beth and she was everything that his Alpha had said human females were, and yet at the same time she was nothing like the creatures he had imagined, was weak and strong, was a mass of contradiction and confliction, and yet all the more perfect because of it. Beth also brought him pizza, Tobin giving a small little wiggle in his chair, excited at the thought, excited because for the first time in his life, there were things in his future to look forward to, even something as simple and as small as a pizza.

[Beth]

Beth would have indeed felt guilty about having woken him up if she had known that she had done so when she left her room at night. She did what she could to be quiet and give him a wide enough berth that she wouldn’t accidentally nudge him with her foot as she went, wanting to let him sleep peacefully if at all possible. She didn’t understand why he felt that he needed to sleep at her door, but she had no intention of asking, worried that he might take it the wrong way and think that she was scolding him rather than simply curious. She often found it odd that she worried so much about how he would take things that she would, had he been anyone else, have normally just said without thinking much on it, but the last thing she wanted to do was to give him a reason to think that she was scolding or unhappy with him. She wanted him to be comfortable and as happy as he could be there and she was going to do whatever it took to make him that way.

She could very honestly say that she had never met anyone she wanted to take care of as much as she did Tobin. She greatly enjoyed having him there, enjoyed his company, enjoyed his presence, though she knew that, had someone told her before she had met him that she would invite a werewolf to live with her, especially one that she had just met, she would have told them they were crazy. There was something about Tobin, though, that made her comfortable, that had told her that she wouldn’t have to worry about him in the same way she would most others that she didn’t know. She worried about him in other ways, yes, but she didn’t worry that he was going to murder her in her sleep or anything.

Once the order was placed, she hung up the phone and offered him a smile, noticing the way he gave a little wiggle in his seat. She very greatly enjoyed seeing him so excited about something, even pizza. “It should be here in half an hour or so.” It would, she knew, likely be less than that, but she always liked to guess on the high end where delivery times were concerned. “Would you like anything while we wait?” She had been trying to get Tobin used to making choices, knowing that it was something that he really did need to get accustomed to. She always narrowed the choices down if it seemed like it was overwhelming him, but he had been getting much better as time passed, something that pleased her greatly.

[Tobin]

Tobin didn't want her to feel guilty so he never gave any indication that she had woken him up when she moved past him in the night. It didn't matter how quiet she was or how much of a wide berth she gave him, he would always wake up at the smallest noise but he always stayed still when she walked past not wanting to startle her or make her feel bad in anyway. If she had asked him why he slept near her door he would have told her, he didn't know if she would understand it but he would tell her the truth and even if she didn't seem angry or annoyed about it he would worry that she was unhappy with him for doing it. He worried that the things he did made her unhappy, he didn't completely understand the world he now found himself in and how he was supposed to act sometimes, here there was no one to tell him when he did something wrong so he had to guess based on how she reacted to his actions.

It was strange for him to have someone that wanted to take care of him, he was used to being beaten and used as his Alpha saw fit, and that was what he always thought his life would be like until he became what his Alpha wanted him to. He was slowly getting used to how things were though, he enjoyed her company, he honestly hadn't expected that but he liked being with her and talking with her, he especially liked it when she shared new things with him. Something about her made him feel comfortable, made him want to stay even when everything in him screamed at him to leave. The more time he spent with her the less he wanted to leave even though he knew that he could be putting her in danger with his very presence.

He returned her smile and settled himself in his seat again. He couldn't help getting excited over the thought of pizza, it was such a simple thing to others but it was still something new to him. He trusted her judgement when she said it would be here in half an hour, it wasn't long really so when she asked if he would like anything while they waited he had to think hard. "Do you have any potato chips? I could go for some of those," he replied with a bit of a grin appearing on his face, he was slowly getting used to making choices and when he did so without any input from Beth it made him feel a sense of accomplishment.

[Beth]

When she moved past him a night, no matter the reason she was up and about, the last thing Beth wanted to do was wake Tobin. She couldn’t begin to imagine all he had been through, but she knew that he had had a rough time of things and all she wanted was to make things as easy as she could on him. If that meant tiptoeing through her apartment in an attempt not to awaken him, then that was exactly what she was going to do. She would have felt extremely guilty had she known that she woke him up when she went through and would have stopped getting up in the night, no matter what it was for, just to do what she could in order to give him a nice stretch of uninterrupted sleep. While she did everything she could to help him understand the world around him and teach him how to get by in it, she couldn’t help but wonder if she was really helping him. Oh, it wasn’t his fault. He learned quickly and was doing wonderfully well. She just worried there might be something she was missing, something she wasn’t telling or showing him that he needed to know and wouldn’t when the information became vital. She didn’t think there was, but that worry was still there.

Beth very honestly enjoyed having Tobin around and, if she was honest with herself, dreaded the thought that he might someday leave, whatever the reason might be. She had never actually realized how lonely she was before, how much time she spent by herself, keeping her own company. It was nice having someone there, having someone to talk to, not being alone all the time. She was, admittedly, confused as to how Tobin didn’t know about or understand some of the things she took for granted every day, but that was all right. She had a great deal of fun introducing him to new things and seeing what he thought of them. She would have to remember to get an ice cream cake sometime so he could try it.

It really did please her to see Tobin get so excited, even over something like pizza. It was such a simple thing, one of the many things she had always taken for granted, but she couldn’t help but have a new perspective at such times. At his question about potato chips, she gave another smile and stood. “I’m sure I have some of those around here.” She did, she knew, have a few different varieties, but she would have to rummage around a bit to find them all, something she was more than happy to do. “Do you want something to drink while I’m in the kitchen?”