TØUCH, WHERE IT HURTS | mulder + scully

C H A P T E R Ø N E;

Home Sweet Home,

Fox Mulder looked around the room that he would now call home for the next few years of his life. It was, what can quite frankly only be described as a mess, the walls were plastered with mismatched pieces of wallpaper, torn, painted over, you name it. In some areas the bare plaster of the walls could be seen. The floor uncarpeted, just the bare wood showing. He was satisfied, no one else probably would be.

He kicked a poster idly across the room, it unravelling as he did so. When the print lay flat it revealed a flying saucer and the words 'I WANT TO BELIEVE'. He removed a New York Knicks cap from his head, wiping away a bead of sweat from his forehead as he did so.

So this was home now. Cool, he thought to himself.

'You don't have a bed' his mother stated, great observational skills he thought.

'Nope' he replied, she frowned.

'Fox, you need a bed, you need to sleep, especially while your studying' bless her, he thought, she was only doing her job, looking out for him while she still could. The thought of her son being half way across the world was killing Teena Mulder. Her heart was silently breaking, but she couldn't tell him that, no that would be selfish. The boy smiled and gripped his mother's shoulder,

'That's what the couch is for ma' she smiled weakly.

At that moment Mulder's father entered the room, he looked around, a look of dissatisfaction on his face.

'This place needs sorting right away Fox' He turned to his father, his arm now hung around his mother's shoulder.

'Yeah, yeah sure' William Mulder frowned.

☾

With the help of his parents, Mulder spent a while organising the room. He decided to push the desk up against the window, and to positon the cheap old sofa he had found against the wall on the right of the room, between the door and window. Other than that the only furniture he really had was a chest of draws, which he positioned on the opposite side of the room adjacent to the sofa, and a bookshelf he placed beside the draws, containing some textbooks, notebooks and a few other random works of fiction he'd picked up here and there.

The only personal belongings he had being a record player along with a few of his favourite records, and a worn out basketball.  He pinned the UFO poster on the wall beside the window.

Standing back, he was satisfied, his parents were not. 

After a few hours of organising his new 'home', his parents left to have dinner, with promises they would be sure to swing by and say before their goodbyes before their flight tomorrow. Promises Mulder didn't hold onto with too much hope.

He decided to go and get some fresh air. He left, slamming the door behind him.

Mulder's room was in a five story building that was basically a block of flats, specifically to accommodate students. The particular building Mulder was staying in, was one in a group of four buildings, each surrounding a small grassy area. The buildings weren't old, but they weren't new either. There was a character to them that Mulder liked.

There was a row of shops nearby, within only a two or three-minute walk. Mulder was sure he had spotted a little coffee shop amongst them, and decided to try there for something to drink. As he strolled towards the shops, he was sure to carefully observe his surroundings, take everything in, familiarise himself. Everything was so different and new.

Would he miss America? Probably, he thought to himself, it was his home, how could he not? But, still he was excited for this new chapter of his life, in England.

He reached the row of shops and made his way along them to the coffee shop. It was a small modern place, named 'ye Ol' coffee shop'. Mulder smirked at the irony, and pushed on the wooden door. The strong smell of coffee found its way into his nostrils and mouth as he walked inside. There were a couple of people dotted here and there, but it wasn't overly busy, not surprising for a Friday afternoon. The shop inside had a minimalist look; white walls, a couple of photographs of the city's main landmarks dotted around the walls, wooden tables and chairs. Simplistic, cute he thought.

Mulder made his way to the counter on the other side of the shop. A youngish girl, about the same age as himself was leaning on the counter top, flicking through a magazine. She was pretty he noted, she had dark wavy hair, shoulder length. She straightened up as Mulder reached the counter.

'Hey, what can I get you' she smiled, there was an accent to her voice, one he wasn't familiar with yet, but he could tell she wasn't local.  She had big brown friendly eyes.

'Hi' He smiled back, he scanned the menu 'Just a regular coffee thanks'

She nodded,

'No problem' stepping back, she began preparing the coffee, 'the accent, you're American right?' she asked raising an eyebrow questioningly.

'Yep'

'That's cool, where 'bouts?'

'Massachusetts' He said 'a place called Martha's Vineyard' and just like that very suddenly he missed home incredibly, overwhelmingly. He missed hunting in the woods with his dad, he missed his mother's cooking, and most of all he felt so far away from his sister.

'That'll be two pound thirty, please' she said handing him the coffee. He fished some change out of his pocket. Reminding himself that he really needed to change some money over as soon as possible.

'Thanks' the girl smiled again, as he handed her the change.

'You're welcome...' he smiled, leaving it open, gesturing for her to give her name.

'Kitt' She extended her hand, 'and you?'

'I'm Fox' he said

'What? Really?' She was clearly stifling a laugh.

'Yeah, I know'

'Okay, bye then,,, Fox.' She smirked and Mulder chuckled.

He left with a wave.