Word Count: 1241

By the time the sun was setting, Lovely was tired of sitting around inside. He was used to larger and finer residences, and he felt cooped up in such a small apartment. So he pulled on his coat and went outside to get some fresh air.

His plans were thwarted, of course. Ilian's neighbor was out smoking again.

Lovely wrinkled his nose at the smell.

“What's up?” the man said.

Lovely shrugged and stood there helplessly.

“What, no sass today?”

“Shut the ******** up,” Lovely said.

“There it is.”

He didn't feel much like bantering back and forth. It was exhausting. Being angry was exhausting, and he found that he was quickly losing hold of that anger. Now he just felt dumb and hopeless. He didn't know what he was doing here except ******** up his entire life.

“Do you have a name?” he asked. It sounded a little forced. It was.

The man snorted. “Alex,” he said.

A common enough name. Lovely filed it away in his memory for later use.

“Any word on Ilian yet?” Alex asked.

Lovely shook his head.

“That sucks, man.”

Lovely shrugged.

“You want a smoke?” Alex held out his pack of cigarettes.

Lovely made a face of disgust and took a step back. “******** no,” he said.

It was Alex's turn to shrug. “Suit yourself.”

Alex went back to smoking and Lovely went back to standing there in silence.

The day had been long and boring. He'd spent most of it on the couch eating cookies and watching movies. He hadn't showered or brushed his hair at all, so he felt gross and his hair was still a mess around his face. Lovely was sure he looked terrible, but he couldn't find it in himself to care.

What the ******** did it even matter?

“So...” Alex began. He sounded like he was about to say something he expected to get cussed out over. Despite Lovely's warning glare, he said it anyway. “Who's the woman in the relationship?”

“Excuse me?”

“Who's the woman? You or Ilian?”

“I heard you the first time.”

“Not going to answer?” Alex said.

“It's none of your ******** business.”

Lovely glared at him darkly. His face was red again. He refused to believe it was because he was embarrassed. He was just furious over the man's audacity, and pissed off even further when he realized this guy's opinion of him actually mattered. Being known as Ilian's boyfriend was one thing. He absolutely refused to be known as Ilian's b***h.

He was pretty sure it was all a bunch of s**t anyway. One would think he would have expected it, though, given how frequently he stereotyped other people. Had he been in Alex's place, he probably would have snidely asked the same thing.

“Ilian,” he said. He felt no remorse.

Alex snorted again. Lovely didn't know if it was because he didn't believe him or because it amused him. He figured either was just as likely.

“You guys're quiet. I never hear you.”

Lovely could not believe he was even having this conversation.

“You and Ilian've probably heard me and my girl a few times.”

“You're disgusting,” Lovely said.

“Tight a**.”

Lovely was just annoyed enough to counter that. “For someone who likes to make sure everyone hears him ******** his girlfriend, you sure do have an odd fascination with my a**.”

Alex shrugged the insinuation off. “I just call it how I see it,” he said.

“You're an a*****e.”

“Not the first time someone's called me that. Won't be the last.”

“I don't know how Ilian can stand living next to you.”

“You'll get used to it,” Alex said.

“Not likely.”

“Look, I'm just trying to be friendly, man.”

“I have absolutely no desire to be your friend.”

“You're gonna need friends around here,” Alex warned him. “Kid like you won't last a month.”

Lovely glared at him threateningly. “What's that supposed to mean?”

“You're obviously not from around here.”

“No s**t. What does that have to do with my ability to take care of myself?”

“No offense, but you come off as a pampered little b***h.”

Lovely was offended. He made sure Alex knew it by the look in his eyes. It didn't matter if it was true. He hated when people made assumptions about him. Funny, considering Lovely tended to make a lot of assumptions himself.

He told himself that was different. Deep down, he knew it ******** you,” Lovely said. He stepped off of the landing into the snow.

“Be careful around the Pritchards,” Alex called after him.

“The what?”

“Mr. and Mrs. Pritchard,” Alex explained. “They live right above you. Argue all the time. They've had the cops called on them at least twice. Mr. Pritchard likes to sit out on the landing and insult everyone who walks by. And Mrs. Pritchard is crazy. That b***h chased me around with a broom once because of some stupid sheet she'd hung out to dry. I think she thought Ilian pulled it down, but I was the only one around for her to scream at.”

Hesitantly, Lovely looked up to the landing one floor above. He didn't see anyone up there, but he'd definitely heard them before.

“Deb's cool, though.”

“Who?” Lovely asked.

“Debbie. Lives on the other side of me. The one with the baby.”

“Oh.”

“And Gale down there,” Alex continued, making a motion with his hand in the direction of a woman in her car outside another apartment a few doors down. There was a small group of people out chatting with her through the window. “Pretty sure she's dealing some drugs.”

Lovely's face paled. He looked appalled.

“Nothing bad though. Probably just pot. You can always smell it over there.”

“Anything else?” Lovely said.

“Yeah, don't be shocked if you see Trish out back with a John.”

“A what?”

“You know... a John. Dude paying for sex.”

Lovely's look of horror intensified.

“You really are a pampered little b***h,” Alex said. “I'm just kidding anyway. Trish isn't really a whore.”

“I don't believe you.”

“She only does it when money's real tight.”

“Oh my ******** God.”

Alex laughed at him. Lovely suspected he was just pulling his leg, but he couldn't be completely sure of that given that a drug dealer apparently lived a few doors down.

Not for the first time, Lovely wondered what the ******** he was doing there. He'd had a poor opinion of this place to begin with. Everything Alex said only made it ten times worse.

If Ilian would just miraculously turn up, Lovely would feel a whole lot better about the situation. At least then he wouldn't be alone.

Shoving his hands into his coat pockets, Lovely turned and began walking away. He wasn't going to get any fresh air out here, and he was too tense to go back to being cooped up inside. He suspected going out after dark was far from advisable, but it wasn't like he couldn't transform and take care of things on his own.

“Watch yourself!” Alex called after him.

Lovely threw a finger over his shoulder and went on his way.