Just One Night || Evan Peters AU

late night lover

      You didn't need to stare any longer to recognize that it was in fact you, in those same skimpy clothes you left Evan Peters' house in. You slapped your hand on top the magazine and pulled it toward you and then behind the counter.

   "Where was this?" you demanded, coming around the side and heading toward the front door. "Are there more?"

   "Dude they're all over the stand next door, plus there's articles on like every social," Nova followed slowly behind you, sounding smug. You braced your hands in the doorway of the Deli and looked around; the few people that were sitting at the little black tables out front were already whispering amongst themselves in your direction, a couple of them even brave enough to point.

   "Oh my god," you ran a hand through your hair and retreated back behind the counter. This was a nightmare, and you still had to be there another six hours.

   "This the shit you gotta be prepared for when you hook up with random white boys in LA," Kyro quipped, fixing up a sandwich to stick in with the other pre-made ones in the cooler. You glared at him over your shoulder for a quick second. He said it playfully, but he was right.

When you first moved here a year ago, he warned you about these things when you were just the new girl from Arizona. Of course, you heard him but disregarded it, knowing you weren't the type to engage in hookup culture. You'd had one and a half serious boyfriends at the point that you moved, but nothing wild or adventurous. How you wish you'd kept his advice in mind a few nights ago.

   "How the hell did you manage to pull Evan Peters on the one night I got you to come out?" Nova laughed. "I can't believe he was even in the same club as us. Why couldn't I see him first?"

Kyro shook his head and rolled his eyes fondly at her and wrapped up the cold cut he'd made.

   "Well I'm glad you two are amused," you sneered. "I could throw up. Now I'm just gonna be the-girl-that-one-guy-fucked."

   "Please, there'll be another in a few days," Kyro attempted to reassure me.

   "Hopefully it's me," Nova interrupted with a wink. "But he's right, so you should enjoy the spotlight while you have it. Take advantage of it, even. I think it's cool."

   "I don't," you pulled out your phone to find that you had 27 new followers on Instagram, which was super unusual for you. You got maybe three a month before this. You immediately went to work to private all your accounts that had been public up to this point. Man this city works fast.

They found you even without any selfies; most of your posts were my plants, or your mini canvas paintings. Anything of yourself was only the bottom half of your face, maybe the back of your head or something cute in your hands. You finished up and stuck your phone back in your bag, hoping this would all blow over in a couple days and life would stay normal.

*****

      The next day, you rode your bike to work because it was close enough; lucky for you since there's no way you could afford a car right now. Your Mom and Dad offered to help with it some, but you wanted to do things on your own, prove to them you could. You chained your bike to the rack the best you could and headed in for your short 6 hour shift. This one was with a girl you didn't particularly like, but you'd manage.

You guys made it an hour without anything strange happening, before suddenly a squeaky group of teen girls skipped and jumped past the shop in bursts of giggles, and stuck a piece of paper to the window. They seemed to be looking directly at you as they left, and you got a bad feeling.

   "Hey, Bethany, mind if I have a sec outside?" you gestured to the paper on the window with your chin.

   She looked at you how she always does: like everything you say, have, and do is beneath her. "I don't care."

You removed your ham-smelling gloves and walked over and out the door, to see what paper they left on the glass. Scribbled in quick, flirty writing dotted with hearts, the note read, "Evan Peters' gf is in here XOXO"

Alright, this was more than just annoying, it was an invasion of privacy. You looked left and right for the group, hoping maybe they'd be lingering somewhere to giggle at your reaction, but they were gone. You grabbed the paper with an open palm, ripping it down and crumbling it in your fist. For a moment, you were happy it was drizzling out so no people were sitting at the outdoor tables. A minute later you wished anybody were around to see a strong hand cover your mouth from behind and lead you backwards into the small alley beside the Deli.

You tried to bite and kick the entire way, but it was only a few steps before they released you and pressed your back to the wall. A guy half a foot taller than you stood with a hushing finger to his lips, dark sunglasses, and dirty blond hair sticking out of a maroon beanie.

   "It's me," Evan smiled, not budging an inch. You shoved him off of you.

   "Charmed," you adjusted your clothing. "This how you get all the girls?"

   "No, uh, no." He stood straight up then and gave you an attempt at an innocent smile. After a moment of silence, you spoke.

   "Well? Why are you dragging me into an alley?"

   "Oh, right, sorry for that but I didn't want anybody to see me."

You peaked around the corner to see that still nobody sat at the tables, and there was maybe 2 people in sight for a couple blocks. You're not that famous, dude. You came back around and crossed your arms from the wind chill, and let him say what he needed to.

   "Well, okay so, my... people, think it's bad for my image to be like, 'a playboy'," he put the nickname in quotations. "They said since my character on the show was innocent and people loved it, I should try to keep the public's perception of me like that. At least for a little while."

   "Alright?" you shrugged lazily. "Then go for it?"

   "Well, I think you've probably seen by now but there's pictures of you leaving my house at like 5am," he said sheepishly. "And from your clothes you can kind of tell what went down the night before-"

   "Yes, ok, yes I've seen," your cheeks flushed. "What's your point?"

   He let out a deep sigh. "It'd be good for me if it looked like I was a committed, romantic kind of guy. Basically.. they've advised me to put on a show for people. With you."