It was time to move. Well, at least it was time to start looking to see if they could move. Lee still loved everything about the apartment she had first liked when they had moved in, and she didn't expect to find another apartment around the same size for anywhere close to the same money, at least not an apartment that was in as good of shape as theirs was.

But, while they had had a lot of good memories formed in this apartment, including the evening when she had first asked Tarin to marry her, there were quite a few bad memories, too. And, while even she had to admit that she had done a damn good job cleaning and scrubbing away blood in the apartment, it wasn't good enough. Well, no one else seemed to have noticed them, but Lee had noticed Tarin just starring at the darkened areas of the floor on occasion.

Yeah, definitely time to move, if they could. Find somewhere that didn't have those visual reminders.

At least this time the hunt was a lot more casual and relaxed. Unlike the last time they had been doing this, there wasn't the feeling that they needed to find something quickly, like when he had been trying to move out of the back of the shop.

This time, when they found something that they liked and could afford without worry, they would move.

It was a warm day for New York when they had an appointment to go see an apartment just a few blocks from the shop. Warm for New York didn't necessarily feel all that warm after spending time in Columbia, though. So Lee had chosen a pair of her fishnets that morning, which she was wearing under a black pleated skirt, and matched with a dark red blouse and a pair of black heels. Walking hand in hand with Tarin as they reached the door into the building.

Waiting for Tarin to pull the door open for her, he always did, so by this point Lee had just given up and started expecting him to do it, she made her way inside and toward the little desk set up there. And as they approached, Lee saw the man behind the desk give her and Tarin a quick glance, followed by a disdainful look.

"Can I help you?"

"I should hope so," Lee said, giving the man an even look in return. "We have an appointment to view an apartment."

All of a sudden, Lee had decided it was time for a new apartment. Tarin couldn’t say he disagreed with her. Not one bit. The apartment that they had was gorgeous as far as he was concerned, and there was no doubt in Tarin’s mind that they’d be paying out the arse for anything else they found in the area near the size of their current two-bedroom. The thing about it was, sometimes Tarin actually thought about the things that had happened in their current place. When that happened, the barely visible stains that Lee had worked so hard to clean up seemed to stick out on the floor like a sore thumb.

Looking at those stains, Tarin remembered what he’d done, what he’d gotten away with, and the possibility of it happening again loomed over his head. It was a depressing thing, and while Lee was good at pulling him out of the moods had set him to staring at the floor, it was something that couldn’t continue to go on. They had money now, and it really couldn’t hurt to look, could it? If they found something that suited them, well…they’d go from there.

As always, Tarin had left the details to Lee, simply pointing out what he liked about individual apartments over others and whether or not he thought the price was in his range. He also helped with the actual looking and that was fun. There was something about rolling into some of these places that were way swankier than their current digs in Van’s with hair askance and tattoos shining loud and proud that added a whole ‘nother level of awesome to the proceedings. Just as they always had, people had a tendency to react strangely when they saw him, especially somewhere that could be called higher-class.

That was the case as they walked into the lobby of the current prospect for apartments. A quick once-over, a derisive look, and the guy was turning up his nose. Even as Lee pointed out that they had an appointment to look at an apartment, the guy was “Mmmm Hmmm’ing” and picking up a receiver to call whoever it was who apparently gave the tours.

It was a long few minutes as they waited for whoever it was who gave the tours in this place and Tarin spent the time looking at the amenities that the building offered. In spite of himself, Tarin had to admit that if the apartments were anything like the lobbie, they were definitely taking a step up. Best of all, there was an exercise room. That meant that Lee could run off her excess energy inside away from the dangers of the park and the tall dashing SWAT guys who also ran there. Tarin was liking this place more and more, and he hadn’t even seen the apartments yet.

“Mr and Mrs Brooks?” The voice was high and polished, and Tarin turned to see a woman decked out in an absolutely classic skirt and jacket combination that would have made any power dresser proud. The woman’s nose was every bit as turned up as the guy at the desk’s had been, though and as she gave them a cursory once over, and plastered on a smile, Tarin nearly rolled his eyes. If this wasn’t the reaction they’d gotten at nearly every place they’d looked at, he’d have been offended. Instead he just stepped forward.

“Yep. That would be us. I think when my wife set up the appointment she said that we were mostly interested in the two-bedroom floor plans. Do you have any to show?”

The woman “Hmm’d” much in the same way the guy at the desk had and Tarin resisted the urge to cross his arms and tap his foot. “I think we have a few to show, come this way.” And with that, the woman turned on her heel and walked from them.

“Well, at least we don’t have to be forcedly cheerful with this one..” Tarin said, slipping an arm around Lee’s waist and following the woman towards the elevators.

Standing there waiting in the lobby was boring to say the least. The man behind the counter didn't seem to want anything more to do with them than to be able to get them out of his building, but because the had an appointment for a tour, he wasn't just kicking them out.

Tarin, meanwhile, was wandering around the lobby, looking at the various things here and there. Lee simply stood off to the side and watched him wandering.

Then, after what felt like much longer than it actually was, Lee heard the click of heels and saw a woman dressed in a suit walking toward them. A woman who didn't look any more impressed than the man behind the desk had.

The woman asked if they were Mr. and Mrs. Brooks, and Tarin confirmed before Lee had a chance to speak. Thankfully, they did seem to have some two bedroom apartments they could show, and before Lee knew it, the woman was walking toward the elevator. "Makes things so much easier, doesn't it?" Lee asked Tarin quietly as she felt his arm wrapping around her waist just before they stepped into the elevator.

And then it was another wait. Another silent wait, since at that moment Lee didn't feel like asking the woman any questions, at least not until they got to see one of the apartments, and she didn't feel like having an actual conversation with Tarin with the woman looking down her nose at them, standing just a few feet away.

Finally, the door opened on the sixth floor, and Lee followed as the woman stepped out and started walking down the hall. "I guess she's going to try to rush us through," Lee commented to Tarin as they made their way down the hall toward the door the woman was in front of and unlocking.

"Alright, so let's see what we have here," Lee said, her voice a little louder now, as she followed the woman into the apartment.

To start with, Lee wasn't overly impressed; she could see the kitchen from the door, and the area between the door and the kitchen wasn't very large. "And how much would one of these apartments be a month?" Lee asked, glancing over at the woman as she slowly made her way further into the place.

“Much” Tarin said when Lee pointed out how much easier it was when the people showing the apartments didn’t try to be friendly. Apparently, far more people had the time to go through all the trouble it took the make these appointments simply as a prank than Tarin thought. The receptions they’d gotten from the showers had been less than warm over the last few days. Tarin didn’t get it, they had the money, but maybe they just didn’t look like the type of people who usually lived in these apartments.

The ride up the elevator was longer than Tarin would have liked. Being lifted in a small box that was suspended by smaller cables and dangling over a chute that was hundreds of feet deep kind of went in the same category as flying. The ride wasn’t long though, as the apartments they were going to see were on the sixth floor, and Tarin breathed a small sigh of relief when the doors opened and they walked out into the hallway.

Needless to say, the atmosphere here was different from what they were used to at their current apartment. The hallways were polished and spotless and the woodwork was modern and painted. A far cry from the almost antique looking woodwork and chipped paint in the corridor of their current place, it was missing the character though. Tarin sighed, he supposed that was a downside of newer buildings. Less history. That was the point of this though, wasn’t it? Living in a place where history wouldn’t be staring them in the face everywhere they looked.

The woman walked away at a pace that impressed Tarin because of the height of her heels and the speed. Lee commented again and Tarin nodded again. “Well, it’s a good thing that we’re not easily influenced by peer pressure, huh?”

They finally caught up with the woman at the door to the apartment and she opened it with a slightly impatient little sigh and walked inside, not gesturing or inviting Tarin and Lee to follow. At this point, Tarin almost hoped he would dislike the place just so he could be rude to this woman on his and Lee’s way out. Unfortunately he knew from experience that this was the general norm for people in the apartment trade in New York, so he bit his tongue and followed Lee in, looking from place to place as he followed her.

The entry way of the apartment left a little to be desired, but foyers in apartments usually did. From where he stood, Tarin could see the kitchen and was pleased to note that the appliances were included and looked new. Almost state of the art, in fact. They’d probably need to buy dishes that matched to go in an apartment like that. Well, that’s why they’d invented IKEA, wasn’t it?

Further into the apartment Tarin went, and glanced side to side as he left the entryway. The apartment opened into a much larger floor plan than the doorway suggested, and Tarin couldn’t help but be a little impressed. Lee asked about the price of the place, and Tarin raised an eyebrow as the woman actually had the gall to snort. “All of our plans run between thirty-four and thirty-seven hundred. This particular unit would probably run around thirty-five.” Now it was Tarin’s turn to snort.

“Sounds reasonable.” He said, coming back to stand by Lee until she was ready to explore the apartment more thoroughly. “Especially compared to some of the places we’ve looked at. They were really swanky.” Tarin looked at Lee and smiled, “I’m thinking that somewhere like this, a little more modest and quaint would suit us better.”

It was satisfying to watch the woman bristle a bit in consternation at the suggestion that her building was quaint or modest and she launched into a description of amenities and perks that Tarin barely paid attention to. At least now they had her attention.

“I think we’re going to look around.” Tarin said, cutting the woman off mid-sentence and turning on his heel, arm back around Lee’s waist and exerting gentle pressure to pull her along with him.

When Tarin responded to her comment about being rushed through the apartment, Lee couldn't help but grin at him. It was very true, they were not very susceptible to peer pressure. But if the woman wanted to try, well at least that might make this somewhat entertaining.

And Lee couldn't help the smile, barely restraining the slight laugh, as Tarin snorted once the woman stated the price for the apartment. And really, $3500 did sound reasonable compared to many of the other apartments they had gone to see.

Tarin seemed to have struck a chord with the woman, though, and she started listing off various things about the apartment and the building that would be reasons for them to live there. Oh, now she was interested in having them living there? The fitness room she was describing did sound interesting, though.

But then Tarin cut the woman off, saying that they were going to go take a look around, and Lee let Tarin guide her away with the gentle force he was exerting on her waist. There really wasn't much point in simply standing in the entry way, either the apartment would work for them or it wouldn't, and they had to take a look around to see.

"You didn't have to actually cut her off," Lee said softly as they made their way further into the apartment, moving to the left of the entrance; the woman wasn't following them, Lee could feel her energy getting weaker and weaker as she and Tarin walked. "Even if she was being really annoying." And as they went, Lee realized that the place wasn't as small as she had first feared. As they approached a door, Lee saw an open doorway into a much larger area that had to be the living room; at first she had thought that the area they were currently standing in was the apartment's tiny living room.

"This place might not be too bad, actually," She commented to Tarin as they walked into the living room to take a look around.

“Eh,” Tarin said simply when Lee pointed out that he hadn’t had to cut the woman off in the middle of her speaking. “She deserved it for being so uppity.” Tarin said, as they walked into what was apparently the real living room in this place. “Besides, I’d looked around a little and decided that I kind of liked this place. I didn’t want her following us around like we’re going to steal the cheap-ass decorations they threw all over this place.”

True to his words, the woman had stayed in the entry hall and was silent as he and Lee made their way around the apartment. It was much larger than the entry hall suggested and Tarin noted again with pleasure that the appliances in the kitchen were practically new. They were probably electric too, no gas bill to deal with. Tarin sighed wistfully. Then they turned into the real living room. Tarin’s eyes widened, “Woah…” he said, then released Lee’s waist and moved forward, looking around the ample space the apartment provided. “This is pretty fricken sweet…” he said, moving to look in the first bedroom which was across from the bathroom. Both were huge compared to the rooms they had now.

“That’s the guest bedroom.” Apparently the woman giving them the tour was back, and Tarin turned, eyebrows visibly raised as she spoke. Her smiled widened at the look on his face and Tarin chuckled, giving her a look that said touché.

“Yeah, it’s to the right from the entry hall.”

This demeanor was vastly preferable to the cold one from before and Tarin nodded his head, saying, “Thanks” as he made his way back through the living-room and down the hall into the master suite, Lee hopefully tagging along behind. Once to the doorway, Tarin stopped and looked, “Wow.” He said.

Tarin liked the apartment so far, did he? Lee glanced over at him with a small smile as they made their way around the apartment, the woman who had brought them up here staying back, at least for the time being. But Tarin had actually said that he liked this place, which was a lot more input than he had given the last time they had been apartment hunting.

A sentiment that Lee started to share as they walked into first the living room, which was a fair bit larger than their living/dinning room area in their current apartment, and then into the bedroom.

Lee was so impressed with the size of the apartment that she didn't even realize that the woman was walking up again until she pointed out that the bedroom they were looking at was the guest bedroom.

Lee blinked as she gazed around the room once more. This guest bedroom was considerably larger than the main bedroom in their current apartment; they could probably put everything that was in both bedrooms at home in this one room and still have space to move around.

Turning around as the woman was explaining where the master bedroom was, Lee watched as Tarin started walking in that direction. Well, if this was simply the guest room, they definitely needed to check out the master. So Lee followed Tarin, slightly slower than him. And heard him say 'wow' as he stopped just inside the doorway.

"What is it, hon?" Lee asked quietly as she came up behind Tarin, wrapping her arms around him and resting her chin on his shoulder, something she was just barely able to do because she was wearing heels, as she looked into the room. At the door into a bathroom, inside the bedroom door. At the sheer size of the room.

"Wow is right," Lee whispered in Tarin's ear as she gazed over his shoulder. Then she gave him a soft kiss on the cheek before squeezing past him to actually make her way further into the room.

And as she made her way fully into the room and looked around, Lee stopped dead, her eyes widening slightly. Not only was the room huge compared to their current apartment, but there was a walk in closet in the master bedroom. An actual walk in closet. That was something Lee hadn't thought she would ever be able to have, and yet here they were, actually looking at an apartment they could afford, that had a walk in closet.

Lee seemed to be relaxing as they looked at this particular apartment and Tarin leaned his head back as she approached and leaned her chin on his shoulder. Briefly grabbing her arm and grinning as she kissed his cheek, he let her move past him to see the room.

Lee was curious what he was so impressed with, and Tarin laughed as she walked in and had a similar reaction to the one he’d just had. This place was looking better and better by the moment…then his eyes fell on the other door in the room. Towards it Tarin walked, anticipation building in his chest as he remembered a little detail about this apartment that had made it stand out in the first place. TWO bathrooms. That meant that there was actually…Tarin opened the door and nearly giggled with glee.

“Look Lee…this room has its own private bathroom…” he said, voice tinged with only half-joking awe. “We would have our own bathroom…in the room.” It hadn’t occurred to Tarin that they didn’t have a roommate, and therefore had no real reason for needing a private bathroom. The fact that the apartment had one, though, was a definite perk.

Lee seemed almost as impressed by the closet as he had been with the bathroom and Tarin chuckled as he moved over to look at it with her. “We’d have to buy you all kinds of new clothes to fill up that closet.” He said, taking his turn to wrap his arms around her waist and lean his head on her shoulder, “Which I’d actually really be okay with…as long as I got to pick out some of the outfits.”

There they were, standing in an apartment that they could afford that had a huge guest room, a master suite with its own bathroom, and a walk-in closet. Tarin leaned forward and whispered in Lee’s ear, “I’m getting a feeling about this place, how about you?”

As Lee was looking at the hugeness of the closet in the master bedroom, she heard Tarin talking about the fact that there was a bathroom actually in the bedroom. For a moment, Lee didn't quite understand Tarin's excitement about that fact, hadn't they just been in a hotel in Miami that had a full bathroom in the room? He hadn't gotten excited about that. But then again, Lee realized, that was when they were away from home, this would be every day.

Moving closer to her, Tarin did the same thing as she had done just a minute before, he stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder as he looked at the closet as well. And then laughed slightly as she heard his comment. "All kinds of new clothes?" She asked with a slight shake of her head, though a grin was still on her face. "I'd be totally up for you buying me new clothes, as long as I get shoes to go with those outfits."

So Lee just stood there, leaning her head against Tarin's as she stared at the closet, glanced around the room, then returned to staring at the closet. It really was a much nicer closet than the one she currently had access to.

Then Lee heard Tarin whispering in her ear, saying that he was getting a feeling about this apartment. And, while Lee couldn't exactly see some of their furniture here, Lee could see them here in this apartment. "Yeah, I am," Lee whispered back, a small smile still on her face as the woman walked in to the room with them.

"Did you have any questions about the apartment?" She asked.

Glancing behind her at Tarin for a moment, Lee nodded her head toward the woman. "Yeah, I do have one actually," Lee said, her tone that same tone she got when she had made a decision; businesslike, but not necessarily harsh or curt. "What do we have to do before we start moving in?"

Shoes. God, Tarin loved it when Lee tried on shoes. He wasn’t one of those freaks with a foot fetish or anything, but the sight of Lee’s legs supported by a nice pair of shoes was something that had brought Tarin incredible amounts of nearly masochistic pleasure from very early in their relationship. “I think we could arrange some more shoes. God knows the closet-full you’ve got back at the apartment isn’t nearly enough.” He paused and chuckled, arms still wrapped around her waist, “Besides, we’ve still never replaced those boots.” Tarin cut off that line of speech and thought immediately after he started it. Talking about boots would accomplish absolutely nothing.

The apartment was great, they were already standing there and talking about filling the closet with things. Tarin wondered if this was what women meant when they talked about wedding dresses. Apparently when they tried them on they could tell the second they zipped up ‘the one’. Tarin had never worn a wedding dress and he hadn’t talked to Lee about her selection process, so he didn’t know…but this apartment just felt right. They hadn’t talked about the practical things, for example, the fact that the whole place was carpeted in a light tan. That would not be good for blood stains. That was the last thing Tarin was going to think about, though. There would be no blood stains here. Things had been different since the coma, and they would remain different.

The woman returned and Tarin turned with Lee, not moving his arms from around her waist to see that the woman was smiling at them. Apparently their demeanor and the fact that they really were just like any other young couple had won the woman over. This was much better. The others had never thawed the slightest bit. Lee commented that she did have a question, then went right ahead and asked what it would take for them to get into an apartment.

The woman had the good grace to look slightly surprised at the quick decision and Tarin couldn’t help but laugh as he released Lee and moved to stand next to her instead of behind her. “Well, when we know something, we know. I think this is going to be a perfect place for us. It’s much more well suited for our lifestyle than our current place and my wife is a fitness buff. Your exercise center is going to be perfect for her customary late night runs.”

The woman nodded and checked her watch, “I’ve actually got some time right now. If you two are really ready to do paperwork we can head to my office right now and get things started. I know of two units with this floor plan that are open right now.”

“Sounds good to me. Lead the way.” Tarin said, nodding towards the woman than turning to Lee with a grin. Hopefully this move would go as well as the last one had. Maybe they could even christen the place with sundaes again.

When Tarin commented on the 'closet-full' of shoes she had back home, a slight crease formed between her eyebrows, though her smile didn't fully disappear. She didn't really have that many shoes, did she? And then Tarin mentioned the boots, mentioned how they still had yet to replace the ones she had lost when she had been taken to the Camps the previous year. Yeah, it definitely seemed like shopping would be in their future, and Lee couldn't stop the smile from returning to her face.

The woman looked surprised when Lee asked what they needed to do to be able to move in. But despite that surprise, she said that she had some time, if they were really ready to fill out the paperwork.

Of course they were ready, exactly what Tarin confirmed for the woman. If they weren't ready to do that, Lee wouldn't have asked. But then again, she realized, most people would have left to 'talk' about it, even if they had already made a decision that they wanted to move in.

Turning to look at Tarin, who had moved around beside her by this point, Lee saw the grin on his face and smiled back. "We're really doing this, aren't we?" She asked before grabbing his hand and following the woman out of the room.

~~~~~

*Thirty minutes later*

As Lee finished answering the last question on the form, she set the pen down on the desk in front of her and slid the papers across to the woman.

"How long before we'll hear?" Lee asked, reaching her hand out to grasp Tarin's in the seat beside her as she watched the woman flipping through the form.

"If everything checks out, you should hear something within a week."

A week, Lee thought. It seemed like a long time to her, to be honest. From the moment they had decided to actually go get married, less than 48 hours passed before she and Tarin were standing in front of an altar.

But why wouldn't things pan out? She had even added in a 'job' of her own; just because Tarin was able to afford his own business in Manhattan, didn't mean they'd be able to afford a place like this.

As if in response to what she had just been thinking, Lee heard the woman's voice once more. "Consultant? What kind of consulting do they need at a medical lab?"

"That, I'm not at liberty to discuss," Lee replied simply. Really, how would anyone react if they found out what she had been doing in Columbia with her boss just a few weeks earlier? "But the number is there to confirm my employment."

“I think you decided that we are, Lee.” Tarin said when Lee asked if they were really doing this, the woman had already made her way back to the front of the apartment, and Tarin paused for a moment to take another look at the master bedroom. “I’m just stoked that this time you’re not insisting on a two-bedroom so you can run away from me at night.”

All things considered, they’d made quick work of getting out of the apartment and filling out the paperwork. They were married now and had all the official documents to prove it, so filling out the forms hadn’t taken as long as it might have otherwise. The woman had been surprised yet again when they’d disclosed exactly how much they made as a shop owner and a consultant for a lab. Tarin had kept his ‘consulting’ job under wraps, at least for the time being.

They’d know in a week. Tarin nodded his head slowly at the information. That might be enough time to get out of their current lease and get everything packed, but holy god was it going to be a busy week. It was funny how easy a little bit of money made the little things, Tarin wasn’t even worried about their application being approved. Only the things that the approval meant for their next week.

The woman was curious, apparently they hadn’t struck her as the small business owner/consulting types, and she asked Lee what kind of consulting she did for the labs. Tarin just chuckled and patted Lee’s hand, “Needless to say, it’s a vital and well secured job.” He said, then turned his head to grin at his wife, then offered his hand to the leasing agent who shook it and bid them good day.

The walk out was a little different than the walk in. Apparently their disappearance into the leasing office had meant something to the door guy, because his demeanor was far friendlier than it had been when they entered. Maybe it wasn’t the way they looked after all, maybe it was simply the fact that when they’d walked in they’d been outsiders. New York was all about inclusion.

“If we’re moving in a week…we’ve got some serious work to do when we get home.”

Thankfully, the woman didn't ask any more questions regarding her Consulting at the Labs. That was a good thing, because the truth wouldn't work, and Lee honestly didn't even really know what they did at the Labs to be able to come up with a realistic explanation. She'd barely managed to finish high school, though the 'barely' had been because she'd been living on the streets at the time. But somehow Lee figured that most people working at the Labs had much more than that.

And then they seemed to be finished. Tarin was shaking the woman's hand, so Lee leaned forward to shake as well, and then they were making their way out of her office, back through the lobby and past the man behind the desk who appeared so much more friendly now.

Tarin was right, though, if they would find out within a week if they got the apartment, they'd be moving really soon, they did have a lot of work ahead of them. "At least this will give me something to do when I'm up at night other than simply staring at the TV," Lee commented as she glanced over at Tarin. "It'll be fine though. Everything went smoothly when we moved into our apartment."