I don't even check my phone to make sure, but when I arrive outside, I find Willow had parked near the front entrance of my building. The truck is crooked, and barely in the lines, but I decide that it's the middle of the night and probably not a big deal.

When I reach the vehicle, Willow hops out of the driver's side, a smile on her face that is way too happy for the circumstances. I know it's because she got to drive, and that always puts her in a great mood, but I can't help the frown on my face. When she catches sight of me, her smile doesn't falter, but she does give me a bit of a strange look.

"What's wrong with you?" Is Willow's greeting, and I give her a look, before beginning to open the back of the truck. I'm glad it's dark outside , because otherwise I'm sure she'd question me about the blush on my face as well.

The tension between myself and Decari is already getting to be too much, and we haven't even had that many interactions, when it comes down to it.

Friendships are stressful, I'm learning.

"Dex stresses me out," I notify her, opening the back a moment later and beginning to gather her things together. She rounds the truck and starts helping, putting the smaller things in a bag, while I decide to just carry a box for now. She does so as well, and it hits me that we are probably going to have to make quite a few trips. Even together, Willow and I don't have much talent when it comes to hard labor of any kind.

"Why, 'cause he's a cop?" Willow asks as we make our way back to the building. I can't help but wince when she says that, because I've developed a tendency to forget Decari's job.

"I mean, yeah," I reply, holding the door open for her. She leads the way to the elevator, acting as though she's been here a hundred times. If I remember correctly, though, the last time she was in my apartment would've been a few months ago. I can't even remember why, but usually the only thing that brings her here is the desire for a home-cooked meal every once in a while, so that was probably it.

"He also just makes me nervous, though."

"Okay, so nothing's changed."

I can't help but to give her a deadpanned expression as we enter the elevator. The elevator, which I can't ride on anymore without thinking of Dex. He is infecting every aspect of my life, slowly, and it's driving me insane.

"It's worse now."

"How?"

I frown, trying to think of a way to even put into words what I'm feeling at the moment. It's quite difficult, and nothing comes to mind, and eventually I just settle on; "he's everywhere. I can't escape him."

We reach my floor a moment later, and right as we step out of the elevator, I find Dex in the process of carrying one of my boxes over to his apartment. He's still shirtless, and sweaty, and I find myself distracted. My face lights up, and I can't help the way a blush begins to color my face. Annoying, since it had just gone back to normal.

"I don't think you really want to."

I look beside me at Willow, scowl on my face, which only deepens when I catch the knowing look in her eye. It's then that I realize how visibly happy I became just now, when I saw him. It also hits me that she's never met him before, and I've never described him, aside from saying he's hot.

Nope, she knew who he was purely because my reaction to see him was so telling.

That's probably not a good thing.

We arrive at my apartment a moment later, and I show Willow to her room. Upon entrance, we set our boxes down, before both exiting. When we do so, Decari is also entering the apartment, and I take a deep breath as I mentally prepare myself for however this conversation will go.

"Hey," Dex greets her immediately, giving her a warm smile. Willow seems taken aback, pausing and blinking at him for a moment before moving on. I probably should've warned her about how friendly he is, and I watch him hold out his hand to shake. "I'm Dex. You must be the ex-coworker."

Willow does not smile back, glancing at me from the corner of her eye. She's clearly not used to how friendly he's being, seeming as confused and slightly freaked out as I was at the beginning—hell , I still am, sometimes. I watch her reluctantly shake his hand, and it's so awkward I almost laugh. Her awkwardness doesn't appear to affect Dex at all, though. Something I should've seen coming, since my weirdness has never seemed to faze him either.

"I'm Aera," Willow greets him, and I resist the urge to facepalm, because that's her fucking middle name.

I probably should've asked her which name she chose before introducing she and Dex, but it's too late now. I'll just need to hope he doesn't do too much digging. On the bright side, it will probably be a bit easier to remember to use this name, and just remember it in general, for me. Still, it's risky, and I would rather Dex not catch me in another lie. I really did not appreciate how it went last time, and would like to avoid a repeat. The way he looked at me was not fun, and I'd like to avoid that facial expression at all costs, thank you.

Even more reason for me to put effort into my lies, I suppose. Still, it's a lot to keep track of.

"Nice to meet you," Dex replies politely, before seeming to move on. He turns to look at me. "I finished moving the boxes. I can help bring her things up here?"

I should probably decline. The more time I spend around him, the worse everything gets. I'm also not particularly keen on him seeing the truck, even if we can just pretend it's Willow's. I don't want to risk even the smallest chance of suspicion, but he's just so hard for me to say no to.

"S-Sure," I'm just being efficient! This will all be over much quicker if he helps. Also, I'm not even sure if he'd take no for an answer. He's never been great about that in the past, at least when it comes to body language.

Dex nods, before turning around and leading the way out. I can feel Willow's eyes on me the entire time, but I am pointedly not meeting her gaze. I have an idea of what she wants to say to me right now, or at least the look she wants to give me in order to convey something similar, and I'd like to put it off.

When it's all said and done, it takes us about an hour to bring Willow's things up to her new bedroom. Most of it is spent in silence, but Decari isn't awkward about it once. I find myself jealous of how he can keep the same positive attitude, no matter his company. Willow and I don't have any slip-ups, and eventually, we're all done.

I know I'll need to drive the truck back to the facility at some point, but I decide to just do so later today. Willow gets right to unpacking her belongings, after closing the door behind herself, and she's done a good job at hiding how much she clearly does not want to do this.

Still, I know she'd rather live in my basement, and she will be allowed that in time. I need to take care of this stupid fucking copycat first, though, because ensuring her safety takes priority over anything.

"So," Dex says, the both of us standing in my living room, tired after all the work. He's currently in the process of leaving, and I just finished thanking him for his help. He stopped before I could actually walk him out, though. "I was wondering if you wanted to come over tomorrow?"

I pause as my brain processes the information, looking up at him with wide eyes. He gives me a reassuring smile, thankfully wearing his shirt again so it's easier for me to focus. Still, the fact that he's inviting me to his apartment surprises me, since I don't get invited places very often.

"Yeah, sure," I reply without even thinking about it, something that is truly becoming a problem. Why can't I think around him? I've always been the most rational person in the world, but proximity to Dex seems to diminish that. It's frustrating. I don't even know why he wants me to come over.

He nods, eyes lingering on my face for a moment, before seeming to move on. "Okay. My partner and I are going to review The Doctor case, and I've also been given authority over the copycat case, since it's tied together. I figured, with your special interest, you could help."

Okay, maybe I shouldn't have been so quick to agree. I do not want to be a part of any sort of investigation on myself, but it seems as though it's too late to go back now.

It's so risky, though. Again, rationalizing around Dex is difficult, and I've already slipped up around him before. I narrowed his search down to Hadena, which isn't much, but it's still something. I don't want to fuck up again and give him more information. More ideas.

His eyes are hypnotizing, though, and my body feels warm. "Sounds good, I'll be there."

At this point I should just jump off a bridge or something. I do not do well with breaks in routine, and I hate how out of touch with myself I am at the moment. Then again, if I'm gone, who will take care of Willow?

I jump when I feel a hand touching my chin. I focus back on the situation, and find Dex closer. He's gently grasping my jaw, reaching towards my face with his other hand, and I can't help the way I tense up. The proximity has my eyes wandering down to his mouth, and within seconds, it's too much.

"Hold still," Dex mumbles, and I do so immediately, without question. I feel him brush his thumb under my eye softly, and the gentleness with which he touches me throws me for a loop. I'm not used to being touched, period, and I'm also not used to softness. Nothing about the situation is familiar, and as per usual, I can't breathe.

Dex pulls away a moment later, and lifts up his hand. "You had an eyelash."

I feel dizzy, averting my eyes from his face and focusing on his hand. Sure enough, there's an eyelash, and I wonder if that was necessary. I'd have found it eventually.

"Th-Thank you."

Dex gives me a small smile, but he seems kind of distracted as well. I want him to leave, right now, so I can get my wits about me again.

At the same time, I don't, though. That really needs to change.

"Of course." He replies, before taking a step back, "I'll see you tomorrow."

With a wave, he's gone a few moments later, and I'm left standing in the middle of my living room, dumbfounded. Right when I start to come back to myself, a voice cuts through the air.

"Jesus Christ."

I can't help the way I jump, turning to find Willow standing in her doorway, giving me a judgmental look. She has an eyebrow quirked, face twisted into an expression of amusement, and I should just go to bed.

"Shut up."

"If I have to keep dealing with that kind of tension, I'm going to kill myself." She notifies me, and I roll my eyes. I run a hand through my hair, before walking into my kitchen. I begin preparing some food for the both of us, deciding I should probably do so, since we just worked so hard. We could use the nutrition, and I don't like going to sleep on an empty stomach anyway.

Willow follows me, and I really do not want to have this conversation right now. I guess that's one downside of her living with me now that I didn't think of before: I will never hear the fucking end of it.

"It's not that bad." I reply, because it's not. We're friends, that's just... probably how friendships are. It's not that big of a deal, I don't know why Willow and Kristy act like it is. "We're friends."

"Oh my god," Willow says, before taking a seat at my table. I realize, then, that I'll probably have to buy another chair. I might have one around here somewhere, but if I do, it'll be one of those cheap, metal foldable ones. "Do you not see the way he looks at you?"

"How does he look at me?" I ask, monotone, not looking forward to this stupid conversation and visibly so. I'm making us sandwiches at the moment, and it's requiring a lot of focus since I'm so tired. I'd rather not deal with Willow's delusional patronizing on top of that.

"Like he's picturing you naked or something. I'm gonna puke if you don't fix it."

"Fix what?" I can't help my frustration, and my irritation seems to only aid in Willow's mood. She's always enjoyed getting a rise out of me, for whatever reason. It takes a lot to push my buttons, but she's mastered the art. She knows me better than anyone, after all.

"It. Fuck him if you want, I don't know, but this is already unbearable."

I finish making the sandwiches a moment later, and place one in front of her. I resign myself to just standing at the counter while I eat it, eyes unmoving from Willow, unimpressed and disinterested.

"You're dramatic."

"I'm really not."

The conversation ends quickly after that, mostly because I just don't have the energy to keep it up, and I'm lying in bed within the hour. Unfortunately, despite my exhaustion, it still takes me a while to fall asleep.

I just can't seem to stop thinking about what Willow said.