Lucas had been ignoring the same problem for three days.
His lease was ending.
Not "eventually." Not "soon." Not something he could push off until things got less complicated. It was ending now, and the more he tried not to think about it, the more it followed him around like a bad habit.
He stood in the middle of his apartment, one half-filled box on the floor, and stared at the walls like they were going to offer him a solution.
"They won't," he muttered.
His phone buzzed once in his pocket.
He checked it.
Nothing important.
That figured.
Lucas exhaled and grabbed his keys. If he didn't move now, he was going to end up sleeping on a couch or in his car, and while both were technically options, neither of them were options he liked.
"Alright," he said to himself. "Find a place."
---
The duplex didn't look like much from the outside.
That was the first thing he noticed.
It sat on a quiet street that looked like it had decided a long time ago to mind its own business. No loud colors. No attention-grabbing details. Just two doors, two windows, and the kind of stillness that made it easy to forget the building existed at all.
Lucas stepped out of his car and glanced at both units.
One side had a faint light on inside.
The other looked empty.
He walked up to the door and knocked once.
No answer.
He knocked again.
This time, footsteps.
The door opened just enough for someone to look out, then a little more.
A woman stood there with dark hair pulled back loosely, a cigarette between her fingers, and paint smudged across her shirt like she had stopped halfway through something she actually cared about.
She looked at Lucas for a second.
"Yeah?" she said.
Lucas nodded once. "I heard there was a unit available."
She didn't answer right away.
Instead, she looked him over—quick, sharp, like she was deciding something without asking him for help.
"You looking to rent?" she asked.
"Yeah."
She took a drag from the cigarette, then stepped back and opened the door fully. "Then you're talking to the right person."
Lucas stepped inside.
"You own the place?" he asked.
She shook her head. "Manage it."
"Same difference?"
"Not even close," she said.
Lucas nodded. "Fair."
She flicked ash into a small tray near the counter. "You got a name?"
"Lucas."
She tilted her head slightly. "Jane."
Lucas nodded once. "Jane."
---
The unit itself was small.
Not cramped. Not broken. Just… minimal.
Lucas walked through slowly.
Jane watched him.
"You planning on saying something," she asked, "or just judging the place silently?"
"I'm thinking."
"That usually leads to bad decisions."
"Yeah. I've noticed."
Jane smiled faintly.
"You loud?" she asked.
"No."
"You bring people over?"
"Depends."
"On what?"
"If they're worth bringing over."
Jane let out a quiet breath that might've been a laugh. "You're either very straightforward or very annoying."
"Could be both."
"Probably both."
She handed him the paperwork.
"Rent's due on the first. No damage, no problems, no weird stuff that gets cops interested."
Lucas nodded. "And if I don't?"
Jane gave him a flat look. "Then we have issues."
"Fair."
---
Jesse called.
Lucas answered. "What?"
"Yo, where you at?"
"Busy."
"Not anymore. I need you."
Lucas sighed. "That sentence never leads anywhere good."
"This time it's family."
Lucas sat up slightly. "…That's worse."
"Just come by."
"Where?"
Jesse gave him the address.
Lucas frowned. "Your parents?"
Pause.
"…Yeah."
"Give me twenty."
"Fifteen."
"Twenty."
Lucas hung up.
Jane raised an eyebrow. "Trouble?"
"Probably."
"You coming back?"
Lucas nodded. "Yeah."
Jane gave a small look. "You probably will."
"Lucas," he said.
Jane smirked slightly. "I know."
---
Jesse was waiting outside his parents' house.
"This is a bad idea," Lucas said.
"I know."
"Then why are we here?"
"Because I need money."
"That tracks."
---
The conversation went exactly as expected.
---
"I need help."
"No."
"Can you just—"
"No."
"…Money."
Silence.
---
By the time they got back to the car—
"That was a waste of time," Jesse muttered.
"No," Lucas said. "Now you know."
"…Yeah."
---
Walter did not meet them at his house.
He chose a parking lot.
Of course he did.
---
Walter stood beside his car, composed as always.
Jesse stepped out. "Yo."
Walter didn't greet him. "How did it go?"
Jesse sighed. "Good. It went good."
Walter nodded once. "Then we proceed."
Lucas watched him.
Short. Controlled. No extra conversation.
Exactly what you'd expect.
Walter looked between them briefly. "I'll be in touch."
And that was it.
He left.
No overlap.
No family.
No risk.
---
That night—
Lucas stood inside his new unit.
Boxes half-open.
Quiet.
Separate.
A faint sound came through the wall.
Music.
Jane.
Lucas paused, then knocked twice.
A second later—
Two knocks back.
He smirked.
"You always communicate like that?" he called lightly.
Her voice came through, muffled but clear enough.
"Only when I don't feel like opening the door."
"Fair."
A pause.
Then—
"You moving in?"
"Yeah."
"Try not to be annoying."
"No promises."
"Figures."
Lucas leaned back against the wall.
Separate spaces.
Separate lives.
But close enough to hear each other breathe.
He looked around the room again.
New place.
New variables.
Same problems.
He checked the clock.
1:19 AM.
Almost time.
He sat on the edge of the bed.
From the other side of the wall—
A soft tap.
Lucas tapped back.
"…Yeah," he muttered.
"This'll do."
And somewhere in the quiet—
2:00 AM was getting closer.