O'Brien had been planning on stopping by his place at some point, that day of the Botanical Gardens trip. He and Leah were going to go get some things, and maybe sit down on an actual sofa or the bed or something-- but then the wall decided to fall on him, and that ended things then and there. Ended a lot, actually. He was still a little upset about it.
He'd had a wall fall on him, and he'd woke up to Luke staring at him, and apparently Leah had decided that was the last straw, and was nowhere to be found. If he had known that the Botanical Garden trip was going to ruin things between him and Miss Machete, he would have stayed back at MSG. And it wasn't that he meant anything like not helping people-- that wasn't it. He just didn't want to lose her. He could handle being friends. He could go back to the friend stage. He didn't have a problem with that. He just didn't want her to completely write him off. Maybe someday, later on, in the future-- weeks, months, or even a few years, she might still consider him for more than just a friend.
Or not. But he kind of hoped that's what it meant. That's what bothered him. Because he didn't know. He didn't know if she had completely erased him from her thoughts. Trouble was, he didn't want to know. He liked believing that she still occasionally wondered what he was doing too.
So when O'Brien planned on going to Brookyln after all, it was to get away. He wanted to be alone and just think, and worry by himself. He had Luke, Alana, and Aileen now, and they were always asking him what was wrong and he just wanted to get away. He wasn't mad at them. He was very grateful that they cared. He just needed some space for a bit.
And then he figured it would probably be a bad thing if he went by himself. So yeah. He'd asked Rory if she wanted to join him. It was that, or go with someone who was a complete stranger. And Everyone else didn't seem to be talking to him still. So Rory it was.
That, and he got to help her out and make her happy by accompanying her to her old place. He didn't mind that one bit. He liked being able to help.
He was still bruised a little here and there, but he didn't hurt like he did, and his knee was doing much better. So he was just fine. Even after they'd had their few run-ins with zombies on the way in to Brooklyn. He slowed to a stop, and gave a look over toward her and then to the door she had directed her announcement toward. "That one?" He glanced to the door, motioning toward it with the Glock 17 in his hand.
Giving a quick look left, and then a quick look right, he stepped to the door, reaching for the knob with his free hand, "stand back." Once Rory was clear of the door, he gave a quick turn of the knob and pushed the door open.
"Fuck," it was too dark to see much. He hesitated a moment before digging into his pocket to retrieve the small flashlight that he'd brought along. Clicking it on, he shined it up into the apartment, and carefully took a few more steps into the entryway, making sure he could keep an eye on every square foot of her place that he could currently see from their spot near the door.