"I'm okay living there for now." I look over at him. "Why are we even talking about this? I thought our living arrangement was just temporary."
"Are you saying you want to move out?"
"No, but I still don't like living at a place that's only yours. It's too much like Rob and me, where he owned everything and I had nothing. I know you wouldn't take off like he did but—"
"I'll add your name to the lease."
"You would?"
"Absolutely. What else do you need to feel better about being there?"
"I want to pay part of the rent, but it'll have to be after I get a job."
"Okay. What else?"
"That's it," I say as he pulls into his parking spot.
"That was easy." He leans over and kisses me. "I have one condition before I agree to this."
"What?"
"That you stop calling it my place. It's our place now. It's your home."
Home. I have a home. Not a tent. Not a sleeping bag. A real home, with walls and lights and heat and food in the fridge. But even better than all that, I have Miles.
27
Six Months Later
"Is it ever going to stop snowing?" I ask, looking out at the giant flakes swirling in the wind.
"I hope not," Miles says, pulling me against his chest.
"Aren't you tired of it? It's spring. It's not supposed to be snowing anymore."
"Yeah, but when it snows like this, we get to spend the day snuggling in front of the fire and watching movies."
"I DO like that." I turn toward him and kiss him, sliding my leg over his on the couch. It's Saturday and we've been lying here for hours while the snow piles up outside.
We moved to a new apartment in January. Miles was right. I didn't like being downtown, constantly reminded of my life on the streets. I was trying to move on and living there was making that hard to do. So we moved to the suburbs. It's an older apartment so it looks a little dated but it feels cozier than our previous place that was so open and had all those windows. This one has separate rooms and a living room with a gas fireplace, which we use all the time.
Miles quit his job at the law firm and has a new one working for a non-profit. It doesn't pay much but he likes it much better than his old job. He said he'll stay there for maybe a year, then find something else. He's still figuring out what he wants to do.
I found a job at a nursing home working in the kitchen. At first I did dishes but now I do prep work and serve. I like working there. All the old ladies remind me of Gladys. They're really sweet and they're always making me stuff, like knitted scarves or potholders.
Gladys is doing well. Since moving in with Zoe, Gladys hasn't been sick once. While Zoe's at work, Gladys takes the bus to the senior center and plays cards with her new friends. In the afternoon, she takes care of Zoe's girls when they get home from school. It's the kind of life Gladys always wanted and I'm so happy she finally got it.
As for Rob, he's in jail now, awaiting a trial. I thought for sure he'd get out on bail but he didn't have the money. He was broke. All that time I thought he was rich, he was using borrowed money. He was about to declare bankruptcy when they arrested him.
He was arrested on multiple charges. I can't remember them all. He had so much going on, things I never knew about, like his scheme to target high school athletes who'd been injured. He wouldn't offer them the pain pills directly but would have one of his workers do it, but only after he'd make sure they were a good candidate, meaning they had money to pay for their addiction.
And the girl who died? Tests showed Rob was the father of her unborn baby, just like the police thought. They found text messages between the two of them that prove he was not only in a relationship with the girl but was also giving her pills. It's hard to believe he was that sloppy, but as his ego grew, he wasn't as careful. He thought he could get away with stuff, like shoving pills down my throat to make it look I overdosed in his attempt to get rid of me.
Rob got away with a lot over the years. It's amazing he never got caught. But his luck ran out the day fate brought us together in the alley.
Turns out Rob wasn't in town to see Levi that day. He was there to go after some guy who was trying to set up his own drug business using Rob's name. He knew Rob had moved away and he was using his name and reputation to recruit guys to sell for him. Rob found out about it and went there that day to catch the guy. It was the same guy who stabbed Levi. He stabbed him because he thought Levi ratted him out to Rob. Poor Levi had no idea what was going on. He'd never actually met Rob, the real one or the fake one. Some other homeless guy got Levi into the business and said Rob was his boss. So Levi knew his name but that's it.
Apparently Rob had been following the fake Rob that day and saw him go into the alley where he stabbed Levi. When Rob got there moments later, the guy was gone. Rob was going to question Levi about what he knew but I got there before he could. It had to be fate at work, bringing us together at that exact moment.
As for Levi, he recovered from his injuries and is back living on the streets. Miles and I offered to help him find a place to live but he turned us down. He said life on the streets is all he knows and he's not ready to change that. I don't get it but if that's what he wants, it's his choice. I gave him my tent and the blankets but he didn't use them. He sold them. That's Levi. Always the businessman. But he's done selling drugs. After what happened, he's never doing that again.
"You want to order some food?" Miles asks.
"Not right now. Maybe later." I yawn. "Sometimes that still feels strange to me."
"What?"
"Ordering food and having someone bring it here. I used to spend my entire day searching trash cans for food and now I can just order it and have an entire meal here in minutes."
"You won't be eating out of a trash ever again."
"You never know. It could happen. I didn't think I'd ever have to survive that way but then I lost everything and didn't have a choice."
"I'll make sure that doesn't happen. And if it did, I'd be the one finding food. You'd stay in the tent."
"So I'd be Gladys?" I tease.
"Yeah. We'll get you some green pants and a purple sweater."
I reach up and kiss him. "I love you."
"I love you too."
I lay my head on his chest and breathe in his familiar scent. "I finally have a home."
He chuckles. "This place isn't much but it'll do for now. We'll eventually get someplace better."
"I wasn't talking about the apartment." I look at him. "I was talking about you."
Miles is my home. That realization hit me the night Miles stayed with me in the tent. Up until then, I'd never felt safe in the alley. I was always on edge. I couldn't sleep. Even though I'd lived there for six months, it wasn't my home. That's the last place anyone would call home. But that night Miles was there, I felt like it was. It actually felt like home. And the next night? When we went back to his apartment and stayed there? It felt like home too. And that's when I realized it wasn't the place making me feel that way. It was Miles.