A Nightime Discovery

A/N: I realize there was a mix up with the chapters for this story ^-^; Thank you to everyone who informed me about it. It has been removed and I hope you can forgive me. The real second chapter has been put in it's place.

The streets were almost empty by the time Alex finally clocked out. With a small sigh of relief he punched the hole through the small slip of paper and set it back on the rack, rolling his burly shoulders to try and relax them. It had been another stupidly boring night.

When he’d first taken up the role of a security guard at the local bank he’d figured there would be something cool involved, like sneaking through the hallways with a cap and a flashlight with a German Shepherd snarling at his side. Unfortunately, real life didn’t quite work out in the same way. He learned that soon enough, with weeks of endless streams of people flurrying about in a decidedly orderly fashion; not a striped sack carrier with a balaclava in sight. But the pay was good despite the long hours, and for him, the dragging shifts had no difference to his life. When he was home, he didn’t quite know what to do.

“Night Marcus,” he called to a slim man bustling about the empty store room, stacking boxes of boring paperwork Alex was thankful he didn’t have to deal with. The guard nodded his curled head once, a brief smile flashing over his lips before turning back and returning to his work once more.

The night air was crisp and instantly refreshing. Alex took a deep gulp of fresh air, feeling his lungs rejoicing at the first clean breath he’d had all day. One of the things he liked most was leaving the sweaty, hot back room where he watched the CCTV screens and entering the outside world, hearing the general background sound of cars and the faint footsteps of people returning home after a very long day. It was still early, no later than half past seven in the evening, but it was already quite quiet outside.

Alex enjoyed a peaceful stroll home, taking his time, stretching his legs and simply enjoying the leisurely walk ahead of him. It wasn’t as though there was anything waiting for him when he got back.

Or at least, that was what he thought...

He made it to his front door within half an hour, as always. He fumbled for his key in his pocket, slotted it into the door, turned it, and began to push it open.

“Mew!”

Alex looked up, glancing around him in surprise. Did he just hear something? He listened carefully, his head cocked thoughtfully to the side. Silence. After a couple of moments, he chuckled quietly to himself, shook his head and began to move again.

“Mew!!”

It was more insistent this time, and Alex looked down just in time to see a little bundle of fluff totter over his shoe on wobbly legs and paw at his laces insistently. He froze, not quite sure what to do with the sudden affections of the furry creature.

The fuzz ball promptly sat down in front of his foot and placed the pad of its paw on his boot, casting a pair of huge, china blue eyes upwards towards his face. It mewled again; a delicate sort of sound, weak and wavering. Alex might have been unsure about a ball of fluff suddenly deciding to heap its affections on him, but he wasn’t cold hearted. He could see from the way it wobbled on unsteady legs that the poor thing was exhausted.

Was it a stray? No; the fur was a little too thick and soft and the body was perhaps a tad too rounded under all that fur for that. It must have gone off on a wander and gotten lost. But he didn’t know anyone who had a cat on his street...

With a sigh, Alex felt his heart softening a little at the innocent, unblinking stare of the baby blue eyes gazing up at him. He couldn’t just leave it out there in the street! It didn’t look much older than a kitten; it could get cold and sick or wriggle under a fence and get swallowed whole by that rabid Boxer that lived a few doors down. It was far too late to go asking it anyone was missing a kitten. There was only one option he could take, albeit reluctantly.

With a small sigh he pushed open the door and nudged the kitten gently with his foot to get it to move. “Look, you’re either in or you’re out. What’s it going to be, fluffy?” he asked in a slightly exasperated tone. The small creature blinked once, head tilted to one side on a cute fashion before getting up from its crouched position on the floor to pad leisurely into the warmth of the home beyond the open door. Alex followed, wondering what it was he could do next.

The kitten lay stretched on his bed, seeming quite content to stay there for a long while. Alex had already checked and found that the animal was actually a she rather than an it, right before he’d fed her half a tin of tuna. The other half was used to make a rather limp sandwich for himself, which he ate leaning on the counter so that he could watch the fluff ball swallow her bowlful within a minute, even licking the bottom hopefully to catch any leftovers she’d overlooked. When they were both finished, he’d left her to wander around the house (resulting in her testing out his bed as a sleeping place) as he settled down to watch some TV.

He spent a mindless hour chuckling half heartedly at a sitcom that wasn’t particularly funny (from lack of better things to do) before yawning and flicking off the set with a quick glance at the clock. He got up and went through to his bedroom to change, having almost forgotten about his little guest. She was stretched out, claws daintily outstretched. A worried glance was enough for him to make sure she wasn’t about to start tearing up his duvet or anything like that.

Alex decided it was safe and proceeded to strip off his uniform, change into a fresh pair of underwear and a pair of warm pajama pants, stifling a yawn with the back of his hand. It was still early for most, but for him it had been a long day and he would be quite glad to finally crawl under his blankets and happily fall asleep. He flicked off the light, deciding to keep the door ajar in case the kitten decided to wander around during the night and found his way to his bed easily by the dim glow of the streetlamp outside.

He pushed back the covers, clambered between them and covered himself up, feeling the light weight of his visitor as she wobbled her way over and burrowed her head into his fingers and a sleepy mewl. He tickled her fur half heartedly as she curled into a little ball and promptly fell into a deep slumber. He soon found that his own eyes had slipped shut and his mind wandered off into a calm place as he began to drift between reality and the land of dreams.

It was quite nice, knowing something was there with him as he slept. A kitten was nowhere near as good as a lover of course. But it was nice all the same.

A/N: This is shorter than I wanted it to be D: Still, this is only one of my first stories and I intend to keep this one going! Please review; it makes this newbie author so very happy!