Chapter 3 The Thief

Ava’s body reacted long before logic had the opportunity to intervene, driven entirely by the unshakable conviction that no sane individual would be found sleeping outside another person’s apartment in the middle of the night unless they were planning something suspicious. Exhaustion from her shift, irritation from the long day she had endured, and the defensive instincts she carried naturally all collided at once, leaving absolutely no room for rational thought.

Without hesitation, she lunged forward.

Her entire body crashed onto the curled figure near the door in a whirlwind of confusion and dramatic determination, and before the unfortunate victim beneath her could even properly react, Ava had already begun swinging her sandals repeatedly with frightening enthusiasm.

“You good-for-nothing thief!” she shouted at the top of her voice, each accusation growing louder than the last as the quiet hallway amplified every word. “Aren’t you ashamed to steal for a living? Don’t you have a conscience at all? You should be ashamed of yourself! I will not spare you today!”

Every strike carried the weight of outrage far greater than the situation itself deserved. Her exhaustion had removed all restraint from her personality, allowing every petty grievance she had ever buried to rise dramatically to the surface.

The memory of her missing chocolate candy immediately resurfaced in her mind with startling clarity, fueling her anger even further.

“I’m sure you’re the one who stole my chocolate candy that fell down the stairs the last time!” she continued furiously, sounding less like someone confronting a criminal and more like a detective finally solving a deeply personal case.

In Ava’s mind, the incident had never truly been forgotten. She could still remember that terrible day vividly. She had bought the chocolate after finishing an exhausting shift, fully intending to reward herself later. She remembered carefully setting it down while unlocking her apartment, only to return moments later and discover it gone without explanation.

That betrayal had stayed with her far longer than it reasonably should have.

Now, in her exhausted and highly dramatic state, she had somehow decided this sleeping stranger was responsible.

The figure beneath her suddenly moved with surprising force.

A sharp shove sent Ava stumbling backward while an enraged voice exploded through the hallway.

“You fucking fool, Ava! It is me, get off me!”

Everything stopped instantly.

Ava froze mid-motion with one sandal still suspended in the air while confusion rapidly replaced her fury. The voice was painfully familiar, and as recognition slowly settled into her exhausted brain, horror immediately followed behind it.

Her eyes widened.

“…Alice?”

Silence crashed heavily between them.

The realization hit Ava with brutal force, draining every ounce of confidence from her body almost immediately. The terrifying criminal she had attacked so passionately was not a thief at all.

It was Alice.

Alice shoved her away completely before pushing herself upright with visible irritation. Her hair was disheveled, her clothes wrinkled, and exhaustion clung so heavily to her entire appearance that even her glare looked tired.

Still, none of that stopped the disbelief burning across her face.

“What has gotten into you, Bubble?” Alice demanded sharply while brushing herself off. “You don’t just start beating people up anyhow for no reason!”

She stood with both hands firmly planted on her waist, breathing heavily as though she had just survived an assassination attempt rather than a misunderstanding involving sandals and unresolved chocolate trauma.

Ava remained completely frozen.

Embarrassment spread across her face so quickly that even the tips of her ears turned red. Her earlier confidence vanished entirely, leaving behind only the feeling of humiliation.

Her gaze dropped immediately toward the floor.

In a much smaller voice, she muttered while fidgeting awkwardly with her fingers, “Mm… I thought you were a thief, so I was just… mm… revenging my stolen items.”

Alice stared at her.

Then continued staring.

The silence stretched long enough to become deeply uncomfortable before Alice finally repeated the statement slowly, as though struggling to comprehend it.

“You thought I was a thief?”

Ava nodded faintly without lifting her head.

Alice gestured between them in complete disbelief.

“You saw me sleeping on the floor, not even anywhere near your door, and you still thought I was a thief?” she asked incredulously, frustration slowly threading through every word. “Unbelievable, Ava. I honestly wonder what goes on inside that pretty head of yours sometimes.”

Ava shrank further beneath the criticism while guilt settled more heavily onto her shoulders.

“Well…” she mumbled weakly, still refusing to meet Alice’s eyes, “when you put it that way, it doesn’t really make any sense. It actually sounds very silly.”

Alice released a long exhausted sigh before shaking her head slowly.

Despite her irritation, she reached down and grabbed Ava’s hand anyway, too emotionally drained to continue arguing.

“Can we go inside now?” she asked tiredly. “I’ve been waiting for hours, and I honestly don’t even know when I fell asleep. One minute I was sitting here quietly, and the next minute I suddenly became a thief who was almost beaten to death with sandals.”

The guilt on Ava’s face deepened immediately.

“Mm… sorry,” she muttered again, this time much more sincerely.

Alice exhaled softly before pulling her toward the apartment door.

“You’re unbelievable,” she murmured beneath her breath, though the anger in her tone had already begun fading.

Ava followed behind quietly while continuing to apologize under her breath every few seconds, clearly too embarrassed to properly defend herself anymore.

Once they finally stepped inside the apartment, the atmosphere slowly began softening.

The chaos from moments earlier faded gradually into something quieter and more familiar, allowing Alice to finally relax slightly for the first time since leaving the mansion. She sank onto the couch heavily, exhaustion reclaimed her body almost instantly.

For several moments, neither of them spoke.

Ava busied herself awkwardly with setting her bags aside and pretending to organize things that clearly did not need organizing, mostly because she still could not fully recover from the humiliation of attacking her own friend like a street criminal.

Meanwhile, Alice sat silently on the couch with her hands clasped tightly together, staring downward at nothing in particular.

The exhaustion surrounding her felt heavier now that she had finally stopped moving.

Her body ached.

Her head throbbed painfully.

And beneath all of that physical exhaustion sat feeling far worse, emotional devastation.

Ava noticed the shift almost immediately.

The embarrassment she had been drowning in moments earlier slowly faded as concern began replacing it. Something about Alice’s silence felt wrong in a way that could not be ignored.

Usually, Alice would have snapped back with more energy or at least teased her properly about the misunderstanding.

Tonight, however, she looked hollow, like something inside her had been torn apart completely.

The realization made Ava’s expression slowly change. Without another joke or dramatic complaint, she moved closer and sat opposite Alice quietly.

Only then did Alice finally lift her head.

Her eyes were still swollen faintly from crying earlier, though she had clearly tried her best to hide it. Even now, exhaustion clung heavily to her face while sadness lingered behind her expression no matter how much composure she tried to maintain.

When she finally spoke, her voice came out much quieter than before.

“Ava…” she said slowly, the seriousness in her tone instantly altering the atmosphere between them. “I need to tell you everything.”

The moment those words left her mouth, Ava straightened immediately.

Every trace of playfulness disappeared from her expression as concern settled fully across her face. Whatever embarrassment remained from earlier vanished completely beneath the growing realization that something terrible had happened.

Her attention focused entirely on Alice now.

“What happened?” she asked softly.

Alice inhaled slowly, as though gathering strength from somewhere deep inside herself before speaking.