pieces of you |t.h. au|

vi.

Updates: Tuesdays and Fridays

WC: 2k

Friends are supposed to be by your side forever, at least, they should be.

Ellie slowly opened her eyes, letting them adjust to the already gleaming sunlight that flooded the unfamiliar room. She sat up in the bed and looked around at the tall grey walls and dark wooden furniture. There was a picture hanging on the wall that caught her attention; Tom was surrounded by five people Ellie didn't recognize and a grey dog, he looked really happy. The smell of bacon drew her attention away from the picture she threw the covers back and started walking to the kitchen, Tom's sweatpants and t-shirt still clung to her body immersing her in his sent, she never wanted to take them off. Ellie walked into the central area of the apartment and was met with Harrison and SJ cooking breakfast in the small kitchen.

Ellie snuck up behind Harrison and managed to snatch a piece of bacon off a plate resting on the counter granting her a "hey!" from him. She looked over to the couch where Tom was still fast asleep. His curls fell gently over his forehead, and a slight smile was painted across his lips. His peaceful sleeping brought a smile to Ellie's face. It looked like he had not a care in the world.

"So, Tom eh?" Harrison said as he popped toast in the toaster.

"What do you mean?" Ellie questioned as she leaned against the counter and grabbed another piece of bacon.

"You know." Harrison said raising his eyebrows as he turned to face her.

"No, I really don't know." Ellie said as she bit into the bacon.

"We see the way you guys look at each other." Harrison said simply like he was stating a fact as he pulled SJ to his side.

Ellie rolled her eyes, "Please, we are friends nothing more, nothing less."

Harrison and SJ looked at each other skeptically. What Ellie didn't know was Tom had woken up, he stayed laying on the couch, but he heard what she said. "We are friends nothing more, nothing less." Tom didn't know why, but her words hurt a little, it was like he was getting a flu shot, except it was in his heart. It wasn't until then that he could admit to himself that he might have feelings for the brown-haired girl that he was so thankful to call his friend.

Ellie didn't blame SJ and Harrison for being skeptical about Tom and her, but they were just really really good friends, and that's all they were ever going to be, right?

-

"Hi welcome to Laura's Bookstore, can I help you?" Ellie said a fake cheerful smile was plastered across her face.

"No thank you. I'm good." A thirty-something-year-old man said as he walked to the back of the store with an equally fake smile on his face. Something felt off about him to Ellie, she had never seen him before, and the majority of customers that came to the bookstore were regulars or people who lived in town.

Jefferson Valley was a little town situated between two big hills, hence valley being in the name. It had only nine thousand residents all of whom knew or at least recognized each other, but Ellie had never seen this man before. He had dark brown hair and dark freckles that were splattered across his face, and he was far too tan to live in Jefferson Valley for it was only the beginning spring and it has been too cold to go to the lake or suntan.

"Laura, have you seen this guy before?" Ellie quietly said as she stepped into the stock room behind the check-out counter. Laura and Ellie walked over to the computer that displayed the security camera footage. The man didn't look at any of the cameras and kept a hat pulled low to hide his face.