Yes

Todd made a few more attempts at engaging with me, ultimately giving up after a few moments. Finally, thankfully, my stop came and I stood and left.

Even with the bus, I had to walk a couple of blocks to get home. I moved as quickly as I could, wanting to avoid any guys who could give me an order. It felt like forever, partly thanks to my now shorter legs and partly thanks to my exhaustion. When I reached my building, I hurried inside and up toward my apartment.

I didn't have my key, so when I made it I had to knock. I didn't hear anything at first. I felt a pit form in my stomach at the silence as I thought of what that meant. If Scott was out, then I would have to... I didn't really know, wait in the hall? I could try knocking on neighbor doors, trying to find a way to reach Marcus to get a hold of a spare key. I could feel panic welling up from the pit in my stomach at that thought. Both of those ideas, speaking to neighbors and trying to explain this whole shitshow to Marcus seemed like far more than I could handle in that moment.

Just as I was about to lapse into a full on panic, I heard the shuffling from inside the apartment, and the sound of the door unlocking. It cracked open, and I saw Scott peer out. His eye narrowed a bit as he looked at me. "Can I help you?"

"I... yeah, it's me," I said. His expression didn't shift, so I groaned. "I'm Riley."

His eye widened at that, then went back to it's previous state. "You fucking with me right now?"

My heart skipped a beat as his words reached my ears, but I felt no compulsion. I calmed myself before speaking again. "I have a fancy new ID from another reality that can prove it."

He stared at me for a moment, then pulled the door open. He gave me a once over, and the attention caused me to pull into myself a bit. After an agonizing amount of time, he nodded. "I guess you do look like him... like you," he said, stepping out of the way. I sighed in relief and stepped inside.

Once I was in, I walked over to the kitchen counter and dropped the purse on it, then kicked off my shoes. I looked at Scott, who was wearing a pair of sweatpants which were oddly bunched up and no shirt. I knew he tended to sleep in, at most, his boxers, which explained the delay in him opening the door.

He was the opposite of me in a lot of ways, even before this mess with the bomb. Where I tended to try and keep myself fairly put together looking, he tended to look more... unkempt. His dark blond hair was shaggy, hanging around his ears. He had a fair amount of scruff that I knew was more from apathy toward shaving than him trying to cultivate any sort of look. His pale blue eyes were locked onto me, still analyzing.

He was an independent contractor, doing art for people and companies seemingly at random, which gave him odd hours, but a bit of freedom. It had been a bit worrying when we first became roommates, but he was always on time with rent, so it hadn't been a problem. He also used the freedom his gig afforded him to hit the gym regularly, which one could see in the copious amount of muscle that he had. He was one of the only people I had ever met who actually had a six pack.

He cleared his throat, and I shook my head. My face heated up as I turned away from him. Had I been staring?

"So, you from one of the cool realities where they have powers? I hope you at least got something out of this whole deal."

"Nope, nothing cool," I said. "Something kind of awful, actually."

"Well, shit," Scott said, "You're not, like, dying or anything are you?"

"No, nothing quite that bad. But I have... compulsions. Kind of. If a guy orders me to do something... I have to."

Scott's eyes narrowed. "Seriously?" When I nodded, he ran his hand through his hair. "Well, that's fucked."

I let out a quick laugh, shaking my head. "Tell me about it."

He looked at me for a moment, then turned and locked the door. "Well, you look like shit..." he said. "Not, like, physically..." He paused, shaking his head. "Whatever, you get it. You look like you're about to pass out. Go to bed. I've got some work to do, but I'll be quiet. I'll try to turn in at a slightly reasonable hour and try to help you out with shit tomorrow."

"Okay," I said, hos order to me forcing me to comply. Not that I minded much, since that had been my plan, but it was still a violation. Scott realized it, too. I saw his eyes widen as I turned and went to my room. Once inside, I closed the door behind me. I took off the damn dress and the bra and looked through my clothes. I didn't have much that could fit, but an old pair of basketball shorts that could be tied off to stay up and a shirt that looked more like a dress on me than anything would have to serve.

With that, I climbed into bed and fell asleep within seconds, the day finally catching up with me.