you had just finished your shift at work and were walking to your family's small diner/gift shop by the beach. you had your headphones in, humming along to the music playing.
as you approached the entrance of the diner, you could feel something was off. it was empty all around you. you glanced down at your phone, the movement turning it on to reveal the date and time. it was a saturday afternoon, a hot one at that. the place should've been busy, busier than every other day of the week.
you turned your music off and slowly opened the main door. your brows furrowed as you looked around. some stools had been tipped over, but that was about it.
"mom?" you called out.
"mom?" you said again, walking into the kitchen.
there she stood crying into your father's shoulder. your brother stood in the corner, his eyes blank.
"what's wrong?" you asked.
she looked up at you and her lips quivered before she let out another sob, turning her head back into your father's chest.
"seriously, what happened?" you asked, your worry growing.
"we were robbed," your father spoke.
"what?" you asked.
"your mom was at the cash and a man came in with a gun," he explained.
"what did they take?" you asked, slowly looking between your father and brother.
"the money. all of it," your brother said.
you were speechless. without money, your diner would close, taking away your whole family's main source of income. you felt some tears fall from your eyes and run down your cheeks. they kept falling silently as you thought about what would happen.
"they left most of the merchandise," your dad added.
you looked down, fidgeting with your bracelet. you had spent lots of your free time making these to sell in the shop. they usually had small charms with reminders of the outer banks. the tourists loved them.
you remembered your paychecks that you had meant to cash out in your bag. you rummaged through it until you found them. you handed them to your parents.
"here, i know it's not that much, but it should be enough to keep us afloat until we make up some more money," you said.
your mom began shaking her head.
"we can't take that, you earned it," she said.
"you guys need it more than i do. i'll make it back eventually," you said.
"thank you," your mom says.
you helped your family clean up the store for a little while when you received a text.
jj:
hey
r u busy rn?
you:
not really
jj:
wanna come over?
you:
sure :)
you grabbed your keys and hopped into your dads car, with his permission of course, and drove to jj's. you looked at yourself in the rearview mirror and wiped away the tear stains that were left. your eyes were still a bit puffy and you hoped jj wouldn't notice. you walked straight into his house and placed your bag on his couch next to him. you sat down and placed a kiss on his lips.
