GWEN, BABY

Chapter 3 - Unknown

Gwen arrives home later than usual that day after working an extra shift at the cafe because she missed her first one to meet the locksmith, and also so she could pick up some pepper spray from Walmart, in case when she returns to her apartment and, for some impossible reason, he might be there she'll pepper spray his ass.

When she unlocks her door, using her new key, she swings the door open to the dark apartment, determined not to make the same mistake she did last time by locking the door behind her.

"Hello?" She calls as she takes a wary step into the apartment. She feels ridiculous calling out to her intruder, like he would really reply. Then again, maybe he would, he wasn't exactly your normal breaking and entering type, he was the kind that kisses you and then leaves compliantly when you ask him to.

Her hand grips the pepper spray in her bag, prepared to whip it out at the slightest sound. But she hears nothing but the muffled cars driving past her building on the street below. She flips on the lights, half expecting to see his muscular figure leaning against the wall, but the entrance is glaringly empty. She decides he must not be here but searches the whole apartment to be sure. When she's finally satisfied she's alone, she returns to the entrance and locks the door, securing the deadbolt in place.

As she goes to her room and undresses, preparing to shower, she has mixed feelings. On the one hand she feels incredibly relieved her intruder didn't return, that for tonight she's safe at least, but on the other hand, she feels something else entirely, and she struggles to pinpoint what emotion it is: disappointment maybe?

I'm seriously messed up, she thinks, as she turns on the shower and steps in, hoping the scolding water will bring some sense back to her. And it does, Gwen stepping out of the steamy bathroom feeling renewed and untroubled, resolute on putting this whole intrusion incident behind her. But her new-found determination to overlook the events from the previous night lasts about five seconds as she walks into her room and gasps with shock. There, sitting on her bed, legs stretched out before him, arms lazily crossed behind his head is her intruder. 

"Hello Gwen," He says coolly, like it's the most natural thing to say in the world.

"H-how did you..." She stutters, trailing off, too baffled to find the words. How the hell did he get inside? Gwen glances over her shoulder at the door. Sure enough, the dead-bolt is still in place.

"How did I get inside?" He finishes her sentence, swinging his legs off the bed and standing. He's dressed in dark blue jeans and a tight black sweater that fits divinely to his broad chest and toned arms. His face is even more handsome than Gwen remembers. "I told you, I have my ways." He says, smirking darkly at Gwen as he strides towards her, promptly her to take a few precautionary steps back.

"Don't come any closer!" She warns fiercely, holding her hands up to show she's serious.

"I see you've showered," he speculates approvingly, looking her up and down. "But without me." He frowns. His words make Gwen realise that she's dressed in nothing but her plush purple towel as she glances down at her barely protected flesh. He just had to catch me at my most vulnerable! She thinks with dread, gripping the towel around herself for more safety: the last thing she wants is for it to loosen and fall.

"I mean it, don't come near me, I'll call the police!" She threatens, hoping this we scare him, but her words have no effect, as he continues to stalks slowly towards her. She doesn't even realise she's been taking steps back until her back hits the cool wall next to her bedroom door.

He's right in front of her now, their bodies only inches apart, Gwen forgetting how to breathe, while her heart on the other hand, drums wildly inside her, possessed, like it's got a mind of its own.