Invisible To You (A Bruce Banner Love Story)

Chapter Four - Invitation

        I wave goodbye to Tony as he drives away, and I unlock the bar. He had insisted on driving me back, considering it was ten thirty and I didn't live in a very good area. All I really needed to do before heading home was clean up the glasses from earlier and grab my stuff. I was going to reopen next weekend, and I needed to make sure this place was up and running.

        I quickly grab my things and lock up behind me, and start walking the half block to my cruddy apartment. Tony was right, I really need a new place, but I couldn't afford one at the moment and I wasn't going to take his money. I walk quickly, holding on to my bag tightly. I knew how to get through without trouble. Walk quietly, walk fast, and ignore everything else.

                The drunk group has already situated themselves on their regular corner, and I hear catcalls and a whistle as I walk by, but I follow rule three. Ignore them. This happened most nights. The same guys every time. The first few time I ran, which was a mistake. It showed fear. Now I just walked by as if they didn't exist, and they somewhat left me alone.

        "Hey Mrs. P." I say as I walk in the apartment complex. Mrs. Perry was my landlord, the owner of the building. She was about Seventy, and had the best shot I had seen in a long time.

        "Hello Rose, dear. Just getting in?" She asks from her chair outside her apartment.

        "Just had to finish a few things up at the bar." I reply with a smile. I go up the six flights of stairs to my apartment, balancing everything in one hand as I dug in my pocket for my key. The building didn't have an elevator, but I kept myself in pretty good shape, so it turned out alright. Though it was amusing whenever Tony came over.

        I had shut the door behind me and set my stuff on the floor for two seconds, when I was thrown to the ground. "Owww." I looked up, and saw Molly's slobbery face over mine. "Do we have to do this every day, girl?" I ask, pushing her off and standing up. She looked up at me, cocking her head and waiting. I sigh and roll my eyes before reaching down and petting her.

        Last time Tony had visited my apartment was a few months ago, someone living here had been robbed again, and when I had refused to move in with him and Pepper for the umpteenth time, he had simply stated that I needed protection then. He had disappeared for three hours and had shown up with a puppy.

        The problem wasn't that I randomly had a living thing to take care of. That I could handle, I mean, I had to live with Tony for years for goodness sakes! The problem was, Tony hadn't seen what type of dog he had gotten me. Molly was a purebred Great Dane. It was her size and her appetite I wasn't prepared for.

        I went into the kitchen and filled her bowl before heading into my room for the night. I leave my door cracked so Molly could get in later. I quickly change into my pajamas and walk over to the window. There was an even more run down apartment building.  I look down at the window a floor down from mine. The lights are off, and I breathe a little easier.

        I quickly climb into bed, getting under the thick covers, and quickly fall asleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

        It's about two days before Tony comes to the bar again, and he always has the worst timing. I was carrying in a crate of beers to put in the back refrigerator for opening weekend. There is a knock on the front door while I'm crossing to the back, hands full. "One second!" I yell. The knocking gets louder. "I'll be there in a minuet!" I yell louder. The knocking continues getting louder, and I sigh, setting down the crate on an empty table. "I swear, if that is you Tony....." I say under my breath.

        "I need a favor." Are the first words out of Tony's mouth the second I open the door. I roll my eyes and turn right back around. Tony follows me in, and I notice that Bruce and Steve are with him.