Elke was midway through her washing when there was a knock at her door.

Her apartment wasn't in its usual dimmed lighting that her evenings brought. Her day at work had been long and she grumbled when she got home and saw the washing basket on her sofa. Her productive mindset from the morning had faded, leaving post-work Elke to be lumbered with the chore.

Taking off her cardigan and without much thought, Elke forced herself to get stuck in. She put her main light on to prevent her from dozing into her lethargy. The window in her living room sat open, the cold breeze lowering her apartment's temperature considerably. This drove her to fold quicker but with the surprise guest at her door, completing the task was going to be prolonged, regardless.

The door was barely open when Roan barged through the gap. Elke jumped back against the hallway wall and blinked with wide eyes.

'Hey, El! How are you? I was coming back from work and thought I would stay the night!'

The man was in the apartment and heaving his overnight bag onto the kitchen counter before Elke could react. His factory uniform was creased and his brow was layered in sweat.

Elke was aware that when Roan did work, he worked long hours and it was physically challenging. It wasn't unusual to see him in this state, but Elke closed the door slowly in confusion and hestiancy.

'Stay the night?' she repeated, walking to meet him in the broader space of the apartment. 'What for?'

Roan whipped around and grinned at Elke. His eyes accompanied his smile, matching it's creepy wideness that made Elke's skin crawl. If Roan was a stranger in the street, Elke would hug her waist and hope that he wouldn't perceive her. In the middle of her apartment, Elke had nowhere to go and tried to not show her unease in her face.

'No reason. I just thought it would be nice. When was the last time you and I slept in the same bed? I miss doing that,' Roan said and held her elbows. He bent his neck to lower his face down to hers and his smile changed to a less creepy one. The change smoothened her grimace that had made its way out and exposed itself to Roan.

'I have work tomorrow,' Elke tried.

'That's okay! I can lock up after you go in the morning or I can even drop you there! It's only a ten-minute drive, right?'

Elke said nothing and Roan took it as acceptance. He stepped away from the girl to grab his black overnight bag from behind him. Heaving it down to be by his side, Roan walked around Elke to head for her bedroom. She stood still, her throat closing up and her chest thundering with her raging heart.

'We can watch that Keira Knightley movie you've been wanting to watch,' Roan rambled, his back retreating as Elke turned around. 'The Russian one?'

'Roan.'

'Were you doing your laundry?' he looked at the unfinished pile on her sofa. 'I can help you with that.'

'Roan.'

'Is your ceiling fan fixed? I could probably work out the wires and hang it-'

'I want to break up, Roan.'

He paused before he made it to Elke's bedroom. As if to try and catch her words, Elke pressed the pads of her fingers to her lips. All the preparation that she had done when Roan turned up at her apartment with Nathan was useless. Weeks later, Elke hadn't expected Roan's visit, but maybe that helped her finally say it. Without the anxiety and 'what if's, Elke was able to force out the statement with a solid voice.

Elke watched as Roan slowly turned to face her. His tongue that had been rambling had fallen flat as did his smile. His overnight bag hung limply in his hand and the sweat had dried on his brow. In seconds, Roan looked thinner, sicker and afraid.

'I...' Elke tried to be brave and took a shaky breath. She had to follow through now. It was out, standing between her and Roan. Like something on the floor that they couldn't see or move with their hands, Elke had to push it to the finale if she wanted things to change.

'I'm unhappy. It's not like it used to be. It hasn't been for a while. I think it's best we don't see each other anymore.'

Elke thought Roan was going to cry. He swallowed and she could hear his heavy exhales from his nose. His jaw was so tightly clenched that she wondered if his teeth would shatter.

He had never cried in front of her before. Elke wasn't sure if he had ever cried; maybe he did when that that truck took the back left headlight out on his WRX. She only spoke to him after calling three days later wondering why he hadn't replied to her texts. By that point, the headlight was like new and Roan talked as if it was just a small hinderance. But when it happened, Elke was convinced he had shed a tear at the damage to his true love.

'You can't... you can't break up with me.'

'I'm sorry, but-'

'No. No, El. That's not fair,' he cut her off. 'You love me, right? You-You still love me?'

'I... don't think I do, Roan.'

'Are you fucking kidding me?!'

Elke jumped and thought about rushing to take back what she had said. Roan looked at her in disbelief, like Elke had said she wasn't human. His tone was angry and at one point, Elke would have thought he was going to lunge across the room at her. He was never aggressive and frankly, Elke knew that Roan didn't have it in him to ever lay his hands on someone, much less her. But in that moment, Elke was uncertain.

'You're doing this now?!' Roan yelled. 'After all these months?!'

'I've been trying my best to see if it's what I really want-'

'What, you think that because you got promoted and you're in this new apartment that you don't want me anymore?! Do you think you're too good for me now?!'

'That's got nothing to do with it!' Elke was angry. To think that she was that shallow was beyond the truth. He had treated her so poorly as of late and for him to use this against her was infuriating and cruel.

'Just you wait, Elke. You'll be begging for me to come back soon. I bet my fucking life on it!'

Roan turned to continue into her bedroom. She would have followed him, yelling for him to leave. But when she saw him open her bedside drawer and pull out the phone charger he had spare, Elke realised that Roan was, indeed, going,  and was takng his things with him for good.

Leaning against the kitchen counter, Elke waited for Roan to re-emerge from her bedroom. She heard her chest of drawers open and close and zips fly shut. She didn't have the courage to go in and watch Roan pack his things. Wanting to avoid the interaction, Elke decided to relish in the feeling of finally breaking up with her toxic boyfriend.

She could finally breathe. She wouldn't have to sit in his WRX as he paraded around in his own ego anymore. She wouldn't have to awkwardly stand at the back of his friend group that never talked to her. Elke could go out on Saturday nights with Arabella and not be in Roan's garage or at a car meet.

His appearance in the living room made Elke straighten up from the counter. He held his overnight bag filled with his things. Glaring at her, Roan paused before he headed for the door. Elke followed him with her eyes, biting her tongue from sending him off with a final insult. But as she heard her front door open, it wasn't long until Elke was watching Roan wait in the hallway for the lift.

Without looking over his shoulder, Roan shook his head to himself. The overnight bag was clenched in his fist and his loud breathing accompanied the lift's mechanical ascent.

'I did try, Roan. I put up with a lot. Surely you could see that,' Elke said in a quiet voice. It was tempting to fall into an apologetic mess and say that he would find someone else that he might treat right.

Inching his gaze to meet hers, Elke thought that she saw Roan pleading. His eyebrows creased in the middle and he looked like he didn't want to go. When he wasn't yelling at her, Elke almost felt sorry for him. But Arabella's voice was engraved in Elke's mind and when the lift dinged, she looked down to her feet in defiance.

Roan stepped into the lift with a dragged step. The doors slid closed and Elke inhaled with all her chest. She then breathed out and found herself laughing.

It was done. She'd finally broken up with Roan.

A click sounded and Elke looked to 406. The green door sat open and the owner leaned against the frame. With pursed lips, Joost looked at Elke from across the hallway.

'Did you hear all that?' she asked, the remanents of her laugh displayed in a smile.

'Only the loud parts. Your window was open,' Joost replied. Elke had forgotten that he smoked and if he wanted to, Joost could hear anything above a levelled conversation with his head out in the street.

'Sorry.'

'No. I wanted to stay listening in case he got... you know.'

Joost's shrug finished his sentence. Elke liked knowing that Joost would have barged in if Roan had flipped out. Although, she had every right to assume that his appearance would worsen the situation.

Considering Roan threw her promotion back in her face, he was bound to use her neighbour that he greatly disliked as another excuse. Roan would have used anything but his own poor treatment and attitude as the reason why Elke would break up with him.

Little did Roan know that Elke and Joost had nearly kissed in the apartment he had just been in.

'I still have that champagne,' Joost spoke up, his thumb pointing back into his apartment. 'If you're wanting to celebrate?'

Elke let out another laugh.

'If it wasn't Thursday, I totally would,' she admitted. 'Maybe tomorrow.'

'Is that a date?'

Joost regretted letting his heart take control in that moment. His cigarette was already finished by the time he heard Roan yell from Elke's apartment. He hung out the window pane, even leaned around Ms Brauwer's window to see if he could catch a glimpe of the girl. After seeing it was futile, Joost stared into the street while fiddling with his lighter and listening intently to the much-anticipated breakup.

With Roan out of the picture, Elke was safe. Whatever Roan was getting involved in with Nathan wasn't Elke's problem anymore. She could remain oblivious to the world that Joost wished he, himself, could one day walk away from.

Every time Joost thought about Elke, he feared he was just as bad as Roan. His own selfishness and infatuation with Elke made it difficult for him to be responsible. But with Roan gone, Joost's desire to plant the kiss that nearly happened the other night clouded his judgement.

'Sure. It's not like I just... broke up with my boyfriend or anything,' Elke said and Joost straightened up from the door frame with a look of terror.

'Shit. That sounds awful. I didn't mean to say that-'

'It's okay, Joost. I'm joking.'

He resisted stepping out into the hallway at the sight of Elke's smile and the sound of her snicker. If only he had the same restraint before he blurted out exactly what he thought.

Smiling at the carpeted floor, Joost focused on the best part of the evening; Nathan won't be anywhere near Elke from now on.

'And yes. It's a date,' with that, Elke shrunk back into her apartment.

Joost fell back against his door frame. He squeezed his eyes shut and knocked the side of his head against the wood. Was he a bad person? Was he as bad as the man that just left Elke's apartment in a deserved sulk?

He had no answer but he had a date. At this, Joost smiled to himself and stepped back into his apartment.