The Darkest Shadows

Chapter 2

The whirring of my fan pulls me from my slumber. I blink the sleep out of my eyes, my hand reaching across the rumpled sheets to feel for Pierce's furnace of a body. When I can't find him, I sit up in confusion and scan over the small yet cozy room. The bed is indeed empty, as is the bedroom littered with piles of dirty clothes, trinkets, and thingamabobs galore. We need to do laundry something bad. As I'm looking over the room, realization of what I did last night comes to me. A smile spreads across my face, followed by a contemplative frown. He's probably suffered enough. At least until he screws up again, which will happen sooner than later. Wonder what I can do to make it up to him...

I quickly glance at the clock, the neon green numbers telling me it's 5:30 AM. An idea comes to mind and I immediately get out of bed, throwing on a probably dirty t-shirt and pajama shorts as I go. When I walk out of the room, my eyes search out the beige couch that he probably crashed on last night. I'm slightly disappointed by the sight that greets me, the couch empty except for the pale orange and white costume that Pierce dons when he goes out on his vigilante crusades. Which is nightly. At least he got it off eventually. I walk past the living room and into our tiny kitchen, first starting up the coffee maker to get my lifeblood flowing before rummaging through the fridge to grab a couple of eggs, milk, bacon bits, cheese, and scallions. From the cupboard I grab the last slice of bread. I set them all down on the linoleum counter and heat up the stovetop, grabbing a pan to cook with.

While that heats up I crack and mix the eggs together with the milk in a bowl, then I push the bread into the toaster. Soon the pan is hot enough to cook my breakfast, so I pour the eggs into the hot skillet. The smell of bitter coffee and savory eggs and bacon fills the tiny apartment.

A yawn escapes my mouth, forcing me to pause in my cooking. God I need to stop waking up earlier than six AM. Preferably no earlier than eight. Once my yawn has passed, I resume making my breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast. As the eggs sizzle in my pan, I hear the coffee finish brewing. Within a few minutes the eggs are cooked through and the toast has been thoroughly toasted. After dumping the eggs into one large bowl, throwing the toast on top of it, grabbing a couple forks, and my cup of coffee, I maneuver myself out of our living room window and onto the fire escape. Up a quick flight of stairs and I stand on the roof, the sun peeking over the Graystone cityscape.

As I suspected, Pierce is sitting shirtless on the edge of the roof, his feet swinging in the air as he soaks up the sun. I admire the view he gives me, the muscular planes of his back and shoulders well defined against the shadows. Without turning around he calls back to me, "Is that some of your delicious food I smell?"

"Yep," I say, coming over to sit next to him. "But you don't get any, considering that you don't even need to eat."

Pierce just smirks at me and grabs the fork I hold out to him and chows down. I nibble on the toast before digging into the eggs as well. While I'm taking a gulp of my coffee, Pierce states, "I might not need to eat, but who in the world would pass up your food?"

My grin is his answer, because we both know that I am arguably one of the best cooks either has met. As we watch the sunrise, I lean into him and consider apologizing verbally for last night. As if reading my thoughts, he wraps an arm around my shoulders and says, "I forgive you Elethia. Thanks for the breakfast."

I kiss him, happy that we're on non-spiteful terms again. Then we sit together, cuddling in the foggy morning while Pierce soaks up his energy.

~~~

"A special number four!" Julia yells back, pinning the order to the rack near my station. I nod in response, flipping the burger I just finished cooking onto the already dressed buns and sliding it over to my assistant Rodger, who lays down a fresh batch of fries and passes the plate off to Diana. Then I start on the next order in the quickly piling up list I've got going. Rush hour has been happening for the last thirty minutes and probably won't end for another fifty. Such is the life I live.

Despite the name "rush hour", it feels like it takes days for the orders to finally slow down. When they do, I slump on the counter connecting the kitchen to the main dining room. In the six months that I've had this job as executive chef of Stardust Diner, I feel like it's just gotten more and more crowded every day. Matt, the owner and my best friend, says it's because I'm here and I make the best food in all of Graystone, but whatever the reason is, I go home more exhausted than the last day. If it wasn't for the fact that I'm getting a pretty good pay from all the extra business, I'd ask for Matt to hire another cook or assistant. In the entire diner there's Damian and me, Damian works the night shift and I work the day. I've got my assistant Rodger, but I'm basically his mentor and he doesn't do enough yet to help lighten my load.

The bell above the door rings, indicating that someone has just walked in, and I instinctively groan in response. Julia pats my hand sympathetically before heading over to the new customer and getting them situated. The slow timber of the new customer's voice reaches my ears and I immediately sit up. Sure enough, sitting in a dark blue leather booth is Pierce, his orange-blonde hair and neon green vest glinting in the midday sun. I also notice that his bandage from last night is gone, probably healed from the excess sun. Seeing him in the diner isn't all that surprising, but seeing him at this time of is odd. Usually his job as a construction worker makes it so he can't leave for lunch and if he does, he's allotted only a short amount of time.

Curious and confused, I walk through the kitchen and out to where Pierce sits, his smirk telling me I'm in for something devious or exasperating. Probably both. "What are you doing here Pierce?" I ask as I sit down across from him.

He hums, content to leave me hanging until I begin to glare at him. "Oh nothing, I was just in the neighborhood and thought I'd stop by."

"Uh huh." I'm not convinced that's all it is.

"But of course my dear! You doubt my love for you?" He dramatically lays a hand over his heart, exaggerated distress coloring his features. "I am hurt that you would ever think such a thing of me, that I need a reason to see my beloved girlfriend and light of my life."

Julia chuckles from across the room, quite used to seeing this kind of extravagant and overtly dramatic side of Pierce. I just roll my eyes and sigh. "Really Pierce, what are you doing here? I expect an actual answer this time."

"Okay okay fine. I decided that tonight we should have a date night. You, me, expensive and highly overrated food, and a night under the stars. Sound good?" He looks almost nervous, or at least he does to me. No one else would probably be able to see how his fingers are tapping a little faster than usual or that his eyes are flicking away from me a bit too often. Something is up.

"Sure babe, why not. You're going to be taking a break from work then?" I ask carefully, forming my sentence so that it doesn't give too much away. He nods, knowing what I'm asking. I release the breath I didn't realize I'd been holding. For one night, he's going to be safe. Not stopping bank robbers, not rescuing little old ladies, not going from the Pierce I love to the Dawn I am terrified for. He'll be with me, and he'll finally be safe. Even if it's for one night only.