11- Arrival of a Friend.

"Tau, you can call him Tau," Quayleigh interjected as the tension between him and Shane became palpable. "And before you ask, no, it's not his legal name. It's just how I've always known him. And you," she turned to face Tau, "you need to relax."

"Dylan, my legal name is Dylan Kirkwood. I've gone by Tauluthet for so long amongst my friends, that it's strange to be referred to by anything else," Tau remarked relaxing his posture as best he could, "Thank you for bringing her groceries up. Is there anything I can help with?"

"There's another bag and case of coke still in my car. If you don't mind, you can go and get them," Shane replied with a bit of a catty tone.

"Which car is yours?"

"The green Fiat, three spaces to the left from the door, along the fence. It's unlocked, groceries are in the back."

Tau nodded and left the apartment.

"Quays, what are you thinking letting a man like THAT stay here with you?"

"Don't give me that. He is my friend. I've known him for years."

"That is NOT what I mean!" Shane fanned himself with his hand. "Did you see his abs! I mean the intense broody thing really isn't my type, but have mercy, with a body like that I might be able to ignore his attitude for a few nights, at least. Is he single? Is he straight? He's probably straight. So, why is he still just a friend? Or are there certain benefits that go along with that friendship that you aren't telling me?"

"Enough Shane. I don't know if he's strictly straight, but he is certainly not your type. And as of yet, there aren't 'those' kinds of benefits. As for his abs, I have definitely seen them. Sort of impossible to miss when he walks around with his shirt off," she replied with a smirk as she playfully bumped his shoulder and started to put her groceries away. "You planning on sticking around for a bit?"

"Not too long. Mom needs me to pick her up at work at four, so I have to be out of here in an hour."

"Ah, so just enough time for a coffee then?"

"Yes, please!" Shane replied as he looked towards the door realizing that Tau hadn't returned yet, "I should probably go get him, shouldn't I?"

"Shit, yeah. I forgot to tell him to not let the door latch, and he doesn't know the door code yet." Quayleigh sighed having forgotten something so obvious.

Shane chuckled as he left the apartment, returning a few minutes later with Tau, and the rest of the groceries.

"I give him credit, he was about to head to the front door when I caught up with him," Shane told her as they set the groceries on the kitchen floor.

Tau closed the apartment door, wiped his feet on the welcome mat, and then returned to his place on the couch, seeing as how there wasn't any more room in the kitchen.

"Tau, you want a cup of coffee?"

"No thanks. I still have my water."

"Ok. If you change your mind, let me know," Quay said as she pulled down two mugs from the cupboard and turned on the coffeemaker before putting the rest of the groceries away with Shane's help. "There all done. So aside from the traffic, how's your day been?"

"Boring, until I pulled into your parking lot. Did you know there's a freaking Rolls Wraith sitting out in your parking lot?" he asked with a flare of excitement.

"Oh, you noticed," she replied scratching at the back of her neck, wondering if it was best to just tell him the truth or pretend if she knew nothing about it.

"You know who it belongs to, don't you?"

"It's mine," Tau spoke up from the couch causing Shane to look in his direction, and then turn back to stare deadpan at Quayleigh with his mouth agape. After a few seconds he rolled his lips in as if he was trying to decide on what to say next but kept coming up blank.

"Why don't you go and sit down? I'll bring over your coffee when it's ready."

"Uh huh," he replied as he turned and made his way to the couch, sitting as far away from Tau as possible. The room becoming awkwardly silent.

When the coffeemaker finished, Quayleigh filled the mugs and fixed them the way she and Shane liked, before taking them to the living area. She put the mugs on the table, opting to sit on the floor across from them.

"Why are you here?" Shane directed the question at Tau, finally breaking the silence.

"I can't go home."

"Shane, I already told…"

Shane threw up his hand, "Oh no, you are not going to sit there and tell me that a man who owns a car like that has nowhere else he can go. So why are you really here?"

Tau and Quayleigh exchanged troubling looks, which only seemed to irritate Shane, "I don't know what the hell is going on between the two of you, but one of you needs to start talking."

"He's here because I asked him to be. After everything that's been happening in the city, and the murders so close to the store, when he told me he had to leave his place for a few days, I invited him to come and stay here with me," Quayleigh explained in the most truthful way she could. She didn't like the idea of lying to Shane, but the truth was so bizarre that there wasn't any easy way to explain it, and there certainly wasn't enough time left in the day.

Shane still had a skeptical look on his face as he picked up his mug and sat back on the couch. "And why did you have to leave your place?"

"I didn't have a choice," Tau replied as he picked up his bottle of water and took a drink.

"Like I told you yesterday, he has some things that needed sorting. Mostly a major plumbing issue. His place smells really bad."

"It did smell really bad," Tau concurred bashfully looked down.

"It's sort of heartwarming to know that the rich have real people problems too," Shane remarked with a smirk.

"What do you mean?" Tau asked as his phone began to ring from its place on top of the coffee table putting an immediate halt to the conversation.

"Don't answer that," Quays warned before reaching out and grabbing his phone, tossing it back on to her bed behind her. "If it's important they'll leave a message. You're supposed to be taking a break from your phone."

"It might be about the repairs though," Shane commented, as the phone stopped making noise, not helping the situation.

"Then they will leave a message. Besides, it's rude to take a call when we're visiting."

"She's only saying that because when she answers her phone, it's usually Garren asking her to come in to work and she probably doesn't want you to leave."

"I wouldn't leave. I have nowhere else to go, at least not for now. I'm here for the time being."

"Something wrong with your car too?"

"No, I don't think so," Tau replied tilting his head as looked at Shane, seemingly confused by his question.

"Anyways, if you're done with your interrogation, how did the rest of last night go?"

"Oh, right, I forgot to tell you. A few minutes after you left, this handsome bit of a detective… Maz, something, hard to remember since I couldn't stop staring into those chocolate brown eyes of his. Anyways, he came in looking for you. He said he spoke with you earlier and had some more questions. I told him you'd already gone for the night and then he thanked me and left."

"Mazurka?"

"That's it. Mazurka. Looked a bit young for a detective though, right?"

"Yeah. He's working on the murder case. He asked me about the night before, but I couldn't help him. I didn't see or hear anything. I wonder what he wanted."

"No idea. I tried to get him to give me his number, but he said something about already giving it to you."

"Yeah, he gave me his card, told me to call if I remembered anything else. Typical police stuff."

"He didn't happen to tell you who was killed, did he?"

"Yeah, he actually had me identify them. It was Three and the two friends he's always in the store with, plus Cinnamon Roll, and Jason."

"Oh no. Not Jason. I thought he had stopped hanging around that group. His Grandma must be devastated," Shane remarked lowering his head with a heavy sigh. "I'll swing by to see her tomorrow. See if she needs me to pick her up anything. Do they think it was gang related?"

"It wasn't," Tau answered as he shifted his position on the couch turning to face Shane.

"Mazurka told me there's been eleven others killed just like them around the city," Quayleigh added. "Now you know why I wanted Tau to come and stay with me."

"But five guys at once? There's no way one person is capable of that. Not unless he's completely insane. And eleven others? That's crazy. Who's ever doing this must be really dangerous. No more walking home at night Quays. If you need me to pick you up and drive you home, you call me. Better yet, tell Garren. Have him give you his car until they catch the person or persons responsible."

"There's no need. She has my car now," Tau stated. "And I'm here. I won't allow anyone to hurt her."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that, but you can't stay here forever, and you certainly can't be with her every minute of every day."

"Maybe not, but I'll stay with her for as long as she wants me to, and I'll be with her when she needs me," Tau replied as Shane took a drink of his coffee.

"Ok, that's enough from both of you. Take it down a notch and relax. I'm perfectly safe, so stop overacting. If you want to be concerned about something, then worry about why Mazurka wants to speak to me again, like I am."

"He clearly thinks you know more than what you've already told him," Shane remarked as he looked over at her. "Are you sure you don't know anything?"

"Yes, I'm sure. But I can't help but wonder where he got the idea from though. Now, can we please change the subject? I really don't want to think about him right now. The last thing I need is to have a detective questioning me again. It's bad enough that I'm on his radar as it is."

"He saw your nails, didn't he?"

Quayleigh groaned as she rubbed at the bridge of her nose, "yes."

"Dammit Quays, you really need to be more careful. When was the last time you let me take to you the shop for a manicure?" He asked as he held out his hand towards her, "Come on, let me see."

Reluctantly Quayleigh dropped her hand into his and he immediately scowled and shook his head, "Honey, there is no excuse for your nails to be naked. I've told you before, if you're going to keep doing what you doing," he snickered as he glanced over at Tau looking him up and down before turning back to her, "not that I blame you, you need to keep these things covered. I don't have time today to fix these up, but there's no reason shirtless can't. She keeps a nail kit and her polish in her nightstand. Use the blue one, and don't let her talk you out of it. Straighten them up with the file, use the clear base coat, then the blue, and then seal it with the topcoat. Ok?"

"This will help keep her safe?"

"It will."

"Then I understand," Tau replied despite staring daggers towards their connected hands.

"Seriously," she tossed a glance between them, "what just happened?"

"An understanding." Shane smiled the undertone being smug.

Quayleigh grimaced as she picked up her coffee and began to chug it back.

"If he does a good enough job, I might just let your bullshit story as to what he's really doing here go."

"It's not a bullshit story, Shane. He really is here because I invited him. And he really can't go back to his home."

"Oh, that part I actually believe. It's the rest of it that smells funny. But whatever, I'm sure you have your reasons for keeping it to yourselves. I do expect the full story at some point though, but as your best friend, I'll let it slide, for now."

"I'd appreciate that."

"Uh huh," Shane replied as he sat back into the couch, "besides, I have a feeling that whatever's going on, is the type of mess that I'm better off staying out of. I got too much shit on my own plate right now to be dealing with yours too."

"Yeah, well, at least let me put your mind at ease, this shit, wasn't my doing."

Shane giggled and smiled. "I didn't think it was, Quays. But I do have a question for you," he said as he twirled his finger in the air and pointed towards Tau.

"And that would be?"

"You said your last name was Kirkwood?"

"That's right," Tau said as Shane leaned in closer to him.

"You wouldn't happen to be related to Sayer Kirkwood, CEO of DKL Investment Group, would you?"