Alyson woke the next morning and sat bolt upright, in the unfamiliar room.
It was warm, and the bed was too soft. She blinked until she remembered what
had happened, the homeless man overdosed on heroin. Meeting Bill, staying in
the guest bedroom. She took a deep breath and tried to calm down.

She fumbled for her pants and bra, finding them in the heap she'd left by
the bed. She pulled on the rumpled clothes and tried to smooth herself
together. She looked at the time and relaxed as she saw it was still early.
The last thing she wanted was to be late for work, for a job that had taken
her to months and more of her savings than she ever thought possible to
find.

She tried to get her wits about her, and decided that she liked the chilly
little room she called her bedroom. She woke up alert, at least. She
stretched and yawned and tried to figure out what she was going to do this
morning. She started to second-guess Bill, wondering if he had a reason to
help her last night. She took a deep breath and opened the bedroom door.

Will was on the couch, with a book and a cup of tea. Bill was nowhere to be
seen. She passed his bedroom door, which stood open and his bed was neatly
made. She shrugged and tried to find her voice. "Will?" He jumped slightly,
then looked up at her over the top of his book and she could tell he was
smiling, even just seeing his eyes. 

"He's downstairs. Can't get anything done after people start showing up, so
he's probably cleaning."

She smiled, realizing he knew just what she was going to ask. 

"If you go on down, he's probably got some food on. There's a kitchen bigger
than ours, and he likes to make a decent breakfast. I'll be down there in a
little bit. When I finish my tea." He gestured so gently with his teacup
that she laughed at how graceful he was.

She slipped on her jacket and opened the door and was surprised at the
brightness. The clouds had parted for a moment, and she thought she actually
saw dry pavement on the floor below. She closed the door behind her and just
stood in the sun, feeling the warmth on her face. She realized it had been
months since she'd seen full sun and reveled in it. She was still standing
on the landing to the stairs when Will finished his tea and came out behind
her. He was so quiet with the door that she hadn't realized he was standing
there watching her when the sun finally went behind a cloud for a moment and
she shivered. She startled, realizing he was there. He just smiled at her,
and they silently descended together.

Bill was in the kitchen of the bar, and the smell of what he was cooking
overpowered the beer smell that had seemed to cling to the walls the night
before. He grinned as they walked in.  Alyson smiled at how the place looked
with light streaming in the back window. She realized that the building was
set up with a front entrance that was entirely indifferent to the sun, being
a place people mostly hung out in at night, but the one window was
positioned in just such a way that in the middle of winter like now, it
caught every bit of sun there was.

"Grab a plate. It's hot and just ready."

Alyson checked her watch instinctively, but realized she didn't have a
twenty minute bus-ride and a wait in the cold, and it was still early. She
smiled at that idea. When she'd moved in, she'd thought she could find a job
near her apartment. Of course, she'd figured she could get a job that paid
more than a paltry seven dollars, and didn't lose money to taxes on top of
that.

She slid into a seat at the bar, and with the sun coming in the back window,
she thought it felt more like a homey diner than a bar. Will sat down next
to her, and Bill pulled out three plates. He slid fresh asparagus and
toasted english muffins onto the plates, and then lifted a pan full of
delicately cooked eggs, all precise and perfectly done and scooped one into
each half of the english muffins. He caught Alyson's look of surprise at the
presentation and winked at her. He pulled out a small saucepan and spooned a
sauce of chopped onions and lemon and dill on top. The aroma hit her and she
smiled as she felt tears fall from her eyes. 

She felt a year of loneliness fall away and splash in her lap. She bit her
lip, feeling self-conscious in a way she hadn't in years. She sniffled a
little and looked up to see Bill watching her, impassive, but his whole face
having care written on it. She blushed and the tears didn't stop. She saw
Will turn toward her from the corner of her eyes and a hand on her back.