Charlotte squinted from her place at her desk as she saw the sun rising and peaking through the window. She had worked through the night, again. She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, checking the time, and packing up her work space. She knew that she needed to go to Ethan's to bring him some painkillers, so she decided she would start her day with that to get it out of the way. Plus, he'd probably rather have the medication sooner than later.<br/><br/>She gathered her things and buzzed herself out of the large corporate building, walking down the up kept and finely decorated streets. Her family's wealth and class meant she had the luxury of living in the good parts of town, the parts that still resembled a functioning neighborhood.<br/><br/>She decided to walk back to her apartment instead of taking a subway, knowing that she had the off chance of falling sleep if she let herself go without some sort of movement for too long. Walking kept her awake, she'd just drink some coffee when she got back home. She'd done if before, she'll do it again.<br/><br/>When she arrived home, she put some coffee on and went upstairs, taking a cold shower to wake herself up. After she stepped out of the ice-worthy temperature, she wrapped her towel around herself and went to her closet, pulling out some clothes. She settled for practically the same things she had on earlier, as she didn't have the energy to make much, if any, effort to look even the slightest bit professional. She just came from work, there was no need.<br/><br/>She yawned into the sleeve of her sweater and dug through her medicine cabinet, fetching the medication for Ethan and stuffing it into her bag. She slipped her shoes on and walked downstairs, pouring herself some coffee. She sipped it as she grabbed her apartment keys. She would drive, but the chances of her arriving in one piece were slim due to her lack of sleep, so she opted for the subway again. She walked down the street, waving to some people she passed as she made her way down to the subways station. She found herself looking forward to seeing Ethan, she could use a friend. That is, if he would even want it.<br/><br/>She rode the subway for what felt like an eternity before eventually coming to the stop near his apartment building. She hopped off the subway and walked to the building, having memorized the location by now. She kept her eyes glued to the ground as she entered a bit of a sketchy area, ignoring the groups that stared her down. She walked a little fast before opening the door to his building, stepping inside. She took a deep breath and walked down the familiar halls, climbing the staircase. She remembered how she had to drag him up those stairs the previous night. That was quite the adventure.<br/><br/>As she finished climbing the stairs, walking to his room, three rather cold looking men had just stepped out. Two of them bearing weapons with a grin on their face, she felt her heart drop just a little. But she didn't show any signs of nervousness, she simply glanced them over as they passed. When they left her line of sight she sped walked to Ethan's apartment, walking in and seeing him laying on the floor with a bloodied lip, and undoubtedly a few bruises. She immediately set her things on the counter and shut his door, locking it, before quickly making her way to the young man.<br/><br/>"Oh my god, are you okay?" She helped him sit up before standing and retrieving some ice, wrapping it in a towel and jogging back over, holding it out to him.  "Here, put this on your lip."<br/><br/>She winced in sympathy for him, helping the man to his feet. She didn't understand the reason for his beating, and the reason he seemingly didn't fight back. She simply dug through her bag as he recovered, knowing that he didn't want to be babied. She grabbed the bottle she brought and opened the cap, fetching two from the bottle. She grabbed him some water and handed him the pills.<br/><br/>"Here, take these. They'll help with literally all of your pain. I'll leave them here, take two every six hours. If it becomes too painful you can take one, but no less than an hour and a half after you take these two."<br/><br/>She gave him a small smile and turned around, and that's when she noticed how clean and tidy his apartment was now. She tilted her head, curious, turning back to Ethan. That was when she noticed how clean and tidy<i>he </i>was. She flickered her eyes over his appearance, the unshaven appearance gone, replaced by a rather fresh looking Ethan<br/><br/>"Well, you clean up nicely, not including that bloodied lip, of course." She tried to joke with him, knowing that he was beyond pissed about what had happened in his apartment... what did actually happen? "So uh... why did those men hurt you?" Her voice was soft. She didn't like finding him like she did, she never wanted to find him like that again.