( a warning for gore/death mention and reader trauma backstory.)
The morning after is usually titled, 'The Walk of Shame.' This was a little different though, instead of meeting some cute person at a club and going home tipsy in a cab, you had been stalked, chased, and traumatized. So, if you couldn't tell, the week was not going as planned.
You took some old clothes from Riley that morning, not feeling comfortable enough to go back to your own damn apartment to grab your own. So you worked with what you had, and what you had was a black turtleneck with an oversized sweater and loose-fitting mom jeans tightened with a chunky belt.
There wasn't much talking as you got ready for work, tying your shoelaces and slipping on your coat and shoving your things into the pockets yet again.
Bailey was the only one awake, which you were slightly grateful for since you weren't quite sure what to make of Riley yet. That being said, Bailey stumbled out of the room in a different shirt and a missing left sock. You decided not to pester her about it so early.
She set out two bowls of cereal and the two of you ate in silence, besides the low grumble from the blue-haired woman at the lack of oat milk.
You couldn't force yourself to eat the whole thing so you set the leftovers in the kitchen sink.
On your way out the door, Bailey stopped you with a quiet shout.
"Hey....be careful out there today, ok?" She seemed hesitant, and you knew why.
With just a curt nod you agreed the best you could before double-checking for your phone and gloves and heading out.
The cold winter breeze made your nose and cheeks fluster, a soft flurry already falling to the ground, it let your mind wander to simple pleasures. Christmas, ice-skating, warm hot cocoa, and maybe some carols that came to your door and-
"Excuse me, miss?"
The gentle drawl of a sweet southern twang made you turn on your heel.
There he was, the man of, quite literally, your dreams.
He was still tall as ever, this time sporting a grey turtleneck under a thick yellow jacket, jeans slightly falling over his black snow boots. The lower half of his face was partially hidden by the scarf he had pulled over his mouth. But it did nothing to hide his absolutely gorgeous... Well, everything.
"Oh! Uhm.. yes?" You stumbled a bit over your words, his heavy stare and red cheeks making your head cloud up.
He chuckled, warm puffs of air spreading into the frigid atmosphere. He tugged down the scarf and let it settle on his shoulders. A rosy smile displayed his tooth gap and dimples, making your face feel warmer than usual.
"You're the same pretty lady who tripped, am I right?" His eyebrow was quirked, casually waving a gloved hand as he spoke.
Butterflies that fluttered in your stomach made you want to vomit, in a very positive way.
"Ahaha... yup! That was me, so sorry about that, by the way.." Your nervous laughter accompanied by your shifting eyes made him chase your eye contact, leaning forward a bit to smile cheekily at you.
"That's alright, at least you didn't bust your pretty face, I'm lucky I caught ya." He winked as he said that, laughing at your apparent loss for words.
Your mouth gaped like a fish as you tried to gather your thoughts, maybe try to be witty and make a comeback. But all you could do was watch as one of his large hands swept through his already slightly messy hair, ruffling it with a grin.
"I-I...uh--" Your words died in your throat as someone came running full speed towards the two of you, slipping on the ice.
Fshhhh oomph!
You watched in horror as a short teen came crashing straight into the man, making him stumble forward a little. He turned to them and was about to help when they looked up and their eyes widened.
Just like you a moment before, the teen's mouth fell open and they gasped so loud you thought they were a fish out of water.
"Holy shit! You're so hot?!" They said it more like a surprised question and you nearly died from secondhand embarrassment.
The man let out a loud laugh, hand coming up to cover his mouth as he looked down at the shorter person. He recovered after a moment, a wide smile still stretched over his features.
"Why thank you, darlin'." He giggled afterward and both you and the random teen nearly melted.
"What's your name? Mines Chance, can I have your number? I swear I'm almost legal but you could date my mom or something, I'm sure it's fine." They rambled on and the man turned to you for a brief moment before speaking up.
"My name is Brian. Brian Lewis." He was making eye contact with you, though.
That's when you realized your bus had arrived and if you didn't run to catch it you would be late to work.
You watched for a second as the teen, Chance, stumbled over their words and was red in the face, Brian giggling to himself in amusement as the two of you made eye contact.
He also noticed your bus was waiting and subtly nodded toward it, almost like he was giving you permission to go chase after it, leaving him and the teen alone.
You did exactly that, nervously smiling and then turning to speed-walk towards the open bus doors. You caught one last glimpse of the tall southern man and the teen before you stepped inside the heated vehicle, instantly enveloped in warmth. You huffed out a small laugh.
Sure, yesterday had been shitty and absolutely terrifying, but...well maybe today wouldn't be too bad. It was better not to jinx yourself though, you lightly tapped on the wood as you paid your bus fare. Knock on wood.
Taking a seat at the back you pulled out your phone and scrolled through your messages, landing on a contact you had completely forgotten about.
'Tim'
With another soft laugh, you contemplated texting the man, maybe you could ask him to stop by your job for some free coffee or something.
No, maybe it wasn't the best idea to invite someone else into your life when you were literally being hunted by three insane men. You swiped off the messenger app and opened your notes instead, creating a new one.
At the top, you titled it, 'Super secret files about hot men even though women are better.'
It was a long title that definitely wasn't necessary, but it made you grin at your stupidity, so it was more than perfect.
The first line just read, 'Brian Lewis, hot bus man who I want to kiss very badly.'
The second was, 'Tim, god he was definitely emo in high school. Probably still is, and also maybe a little fruity haha.'
Ok, so maybe it was a tad bit unwarranted, but it wasn't like they were ever going to read it. Although you could imagine how much you would be embarrassed if they ever did.
With a shake of your head, you turned off your phone and slipped it back into your pocket, just as the bus stopped at your destination.
You tugged your gloves a little tighter onto your hands and then stood up, walking to the front and stepping off with a slight bounce.
Since it was still pretty early there wasn't a lot of speeding cars on the road to accidentally kill you so you committed a crime, jaywalking. Or more like sprinting across the street to the Starbucks, nearly slipping on the melting ice.
The door jingled pleasantly as you walked in through the front door, being greeted by the smell of dark roast and cinnamon candles. Not too shabby since the place usually smelt of stale pastries and tacky lemongrass essential oil.
Though, it only smelt like that when Lia was working, since she had a sensitive nose and preferred to not have scented candles around. She even brought in her own diffuser.
Your jaw clenched as you thought about your old manager, your mood significantly dropping as you recalled her dead eyes and gaping mouth.
"Y/N? You're working today?"
The trance you were in was snapped in half as you looked up, locking eyes with Louise, another co-worker.
"Hey? Yeah, I am." You were slightly confused about how she forgot, but then you saw the bags under her eyes and the way she slouched.
"Sorry, I've been asked to replace Lia. She kinda disappeared off the face of the earth so I stepped in. I'm trying to catch up on the scheduling."
Louise sighed heavily, looking more worn out than ever and you felt a pang in your chest.
"Don't worry about it, I get it. Do you need me working in the front again today?" You wanted to change the subject from Lia's 'disappearance' as quickly as possible, already feeling weak.
Louise perked up, her auburn hair falling slightly out of its messy bun as she grinned.
"No actually!" She leaned forward on the counter and beckoned you closer, cupping a hand over her mouth. "Today we're getting a new hire, the last one Lia approved before she left. He's supposed to be, like, really cute."
You raised an eyebrow and leaned back, watching as she bounced slightly on her toes at the thought of a cute co-worker.
"Really? Well, what does that mean for me?" Your arms were crossed over your chest now, confused why she was telling you this. You didn't usually have anything to do with the new hires.
"Oh, because you're in charge of showing him the ropes!" She wiggled her eyebrows and you gaped at her.
"What?! I'm in charge of his training?" This was something very new to you since you were barely trusted to use the oven, much less train a new kid.
Louise nodded, "Yep! So get your apron on and get ready, he should be coming in soon-ish."
With that she winked and left, back to the drive-thru, turning on her headset.
A low groan left your lips as you dragged yourself behind the counter, putting on your apron and fixing your name tag. This was going to suck.
Pairing your terrible people skills with your hatred for work and the trauma of seeing your manager beheaded, you weren't exactly looking forward to training some newbie kid.
Regardless you hung up your jacket and tucked your phone into your green apron pocket, slipping your gloves off and shoving them into your hanging coat. You rubbed your hands together to warm them as you leaned against the front counter.
Not even three minutes later the door jingled again, alerting you to the person who just walked in.
Your gaze drifted upwards till it came to a stuttering halt on the man that was casually walking up to where you were.
He was tall, like six-foot tall, that's the first thing. The next thing was his mop of curly brown hair, sticking up in random places and long enough it could probably be forced into a low ponytail.
His eyes darted around the room, barely letting you catch a look at his soft, almost amber, iris'.
His fingers tapped wildly, occasionally going up to scratch at the yellow bandage pasted on his cheek by the corner of his mouth, a crudely drawn smiley decorating it.
He had light facial hair, just enough stubble visible to assure you that he was around your age, maybe a year older.
A metal bar was pierced into the bridge of his nose and you even caught a glimpse of a silver ball on his tongue when he flicked it across his sharp canines. God...
His outfit was layered, a brown jacket over top of a forest green button-down that was unbuttoned, which was over the top of a black shirt that had a small embroidered green dino in the center. He wore simple black jeans and a pair of worn-down brown converse.
He was, in simple terms, pretty. But not in an insulting middle-school way. Instead, the kind of pretty that made him a wonder to admire, softening his appearance but letting the obvious intimidating aura stick out. He was lovely.
"Can I help you, sir?" You spoke first, watching as he focused on you, his eyes roaming your face, his expression pretty neutral.
"Y-yeah, today i--is my fir-first day.." His stutter was accompanied by a roll of his shoulder, a grimace spreading across his features as he clicked his tongue.
Oh..oh fuck. Don't falter, it's rude, but he-- oh god.
Images pooled in your mind of the tall goggled man standing over you, laughing in glee as he swung around a severed head. The way his finger tapped on his gloved palm, the way his stutter seemed to sneer at you as he popped and ticked.
"O-oh! You must be the new hire!" You responded as quickly as you could, desperate not to seem rude just because some random dude reminded you of a killer.
His eyes had slightly narrowed, looking darker in the bright lights, but he relaxed when you smiled in his direction.
He grinned, head tilting as he clicked again, "Tha-that's me!"
With another, more genuine, smile you nodded and stuck out your hand.
"My name is Y/N," you tapped your nametag, "it's nice to meet you...?"
You trailed off, waiting for him to introduce himself, which he gladly did.
"Toby!" He shook your hand, his grip firm and a little too tight on your poor fingers.
You pulled your hand back after a second and gestured over to the entrance that led to behind the counter. "I'll be in charge of your training, so you can enter over there and I'll explain everything."
He nodded, clicking once more and then striding through the entrance, his hands trailing over the countertops.
"Stop it!"
Your head whipped around to Toby, the one who had just spoken. He was standing behind you, staring at a blender, shoulder rolling as he murmured under his breath.
It was nothing, just a weird tic, nothing to be concerned over.
"I think Louise set out an extra apron for you, c'mon let's see if it fits." You pulled down the green uniform piece from the hook as you spoke, turning back to Toby.
He was much closer now and you had to look up to meet his eyes, which were filled with curiosity and mischief. They looked more orange in the shadow of his figure, instantly reminding you of the reflective goggles splattered in dried blood.
Toby took the apron from your stalled hands, choosing to ignore your frozen state as he slid it over his head, fumbling with the long ties.
"Do you, uhm, need help tying it?" You weakly pointed to his apron in question.
Toby's eyes snapped up, his neck jerking to the side as he nodded in response. His hands shot out to hand you the green fabric.
You chuckled a little, which made him smile widely, like he was proud he made you laugh.
Stepping around his lanky figure you realized he still had his jacket on, so you tapped his shoulder.
"Take your jacket off first, it will get uncomfortable if you have it on under the apron."
He perked up, glancing back at you before shrugging off his jacket.
"How thot-thoughtful ov-of you." He snickered under his breath as he hung up his coat.
With quick fingers you tied his straps in a slightly messy bow, gently patting his back when you were done to let him know it was ok to move now.
He flipped his head back to you with a cheeky grin, shoulder rolling back again with less force.
You adjusted your eyes to meet his and clapped your hands together, suppressing the nerves and bile that rose suddenly when you locked eyes.
"So! You ready to learn how to be a top-notch barista?" The confidence you faked was accompanied by a toothy smile.
Toby nodded quickly, his messy curls bouncing.
"Y-yeah!" He pumped both his fists as he rocked back and forth on his heels.
You tucked a stray piece of hair behind your ear and nodded to the machines he was staring at earlier.
"I'll show you the ropes over there first." You pointed at the blender he had seemed to be interested in. "Let's get this show on the road!"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Third. This was the third customer he had snapped at.
At this point, you were getting nervous that your new manager was going to fire him after only three hours.
You watched with a worried gaze as Toby grumbled under his breath, kicking the wood counter harshly in frustration.
Taking your attention away from the moody Toby you turned to Louise, who was cleaning down the drive-thru window with her earbuds in.
Briskly walking up to her you reached out and tapped her shoulder with urgency.
Her wide blue eyes stared owlishly back at you, confusion evident on her freckled features.
Louise pulled a single earbud out and raised an eyebrow.
"Yes?"
You stuttered before intaking a breath and spitting out the next request.
"Hey, Louise! Mind if we step out real quick? I think we both need a lunch break!"
The red-head glanced between you and then the tall newbie with a slight frown that deepened when she noticed his dark scowl.
"Oh uhm, sure. I'll give you an hour. Don't worry, Phil will take your place."
All you gave her was a quick nod before spinning on your heel and rushing up to Toby, screeching to a stop beside him.
"Hey, Toby? Would you like to go on lunch break with me?"
You tried to word it as calmly as possible, really this wasn't his fault. The customers were assholes who loved to stare at anything even slightly different, if anything you were upset with the ignorance being pointed in Toby's direction.
If you were him you would have definitely snapped by now.
The brunette snapped his head down to you with a slight snarl, lips lifting up to reveal pointy canines.
He quickly realized it was just you and huffed out an annoyed sigh, still sorta glaring you down as he pondered your question.
"Whatever. I'm hungry anyway." His voice was bitter as he twitched harshly, obviously affected by the slightly hostile environment.
"Great. I'll pay, just grab your jacket and I'll meet you outside in a sec, kay?"
All he managed was a curt nod, ripping off his magnet name tag and stuffing it into his green pocket, shuffling to the coat rack and tearing off his brown jacket.
Your eyes trailed after him before you bit down on the inside of your cheek, gathering your things quickly so he didn't have to wait up.
Yanking back on your gloves you shouted 'see ya!' to any lingering co-workers and rushed out the back door.
Not looking where you were going you ran face-first into Toby, stumbling back a bit on the salted sidewalk. Your nose sore from the impact.
"Watch it."
There it was again, the snarl. The way he narrowed his deep amber eyes in your direction, it made your heart leap unpleasantly. Something screamed in your mind that the last thing you wanted was for this man to be mad at you.
"I'm sorry." You rubbed your palm on your reddening nose and looked up at him.
"Is there anything you want to eat?" It was just common sense to cheer up someone with food they liked, or maybe that was just you.
God, you probably couldn't count the wasted money over the years of you snacking on random comfort foods at three am.
"Meat."
That was a fucking cryptic answer. Meat? You thought about it for a second before remembering there was a pretty decent burger place down the road, a two-minute walk.
"Ah ok, there's a burger place not too far from here. Sound good?"
He nodded, swiping a hand through his hair as he stared at the ground, almost burning holes in the snow.
With a nervous smile, you started walking in the direction of said burger place, careful to keep an eye on Toby, who was following after you like a puppy. Sure, an aggressive and tall puppy, but a puppy nonetheless.
Your mind was buzzing with nerves, eyes flitting over to the man beside you. The way he was acting now made you more alert, aware of every little jerk of his head and tap of his fingers.
It was kind of like your legs were on autopilot, you being way too focused on Toby to actually give attention to the path ahead of you.
Though, now you could see his features much closer, allowing you to catch sight of his eyes once more. Instead of them being the deep amber color like before they seemed to have shifted in the afternoon glow. Now they swirled with a mixture of color, his left eye seeming more green than his much darker left eye.
'Probably heterochromia...'
You only retained the word since you had to do a presentation on the rare condition when you were in high school, the information sticking to your mind like glue because you (of course) were the only one in the three-person group to do work for the project.
Well, that and also,
Her eyes held a special childlike wonder to them, bright blue in contrast to a deep brown. Her dimples were more visible than usual as she grabbed onto your leg, looking up at you with the biggest smile you had seen since...
Toby's head snapped to you suddenly, making your eyes widen in surprise. How long had you been staring at him?
"What the fuck are you looking at, creep?"
His voice was low, a threatening aura seemed to envelop him as he slowed his walk, yours already coming to a complete stop.
You raised your hands in mock surrender, still kind of out of it from the random memory jumpstart you just had.
"Sorry, I wasn't trying to upset you, Toby. Let's just keep walking."
He stalked around you in a circle, looming down to match your height, a frown tugging at his chapped lips.
"N-no. Tell me wha-what you were thinn-nn-thinking about."
Your own frown formed quickly, averting your gaze.
"Listen, can we talk about this, not on an empty stomach? I'll tell you when we get to the place."
Toby seemed skeptical of your avoidance but moved back anyway to let you pass him once more. It seemed curiosity really did kill the cat.
With a quiet sigh, you rubbed the bridge of your nose with your pointer and thumb, briskly walking to the glass doors not too far ahead.
You could hear the brunette following you but blocked it out, not really interested in whatever game he was trying to play.
The burger shop was staring you down as you arrived at the smudged glass doors, the words 'TOM'S SLOPPY SHACK' in weird bold above the door. A dusty neon green sign screaming 'OPEN!!" in fancy lettering, flickering in and out of existence.
Ah yes, perfect. Your stomach growled for...Tom's slop? You rolled your eyes at the thought and pushed open the glass door, a tiny bell alerting the store of your arrival.
From the corner of your eye, you could see your companion wrinkle his nose in slight distaste at the stale bread smell that seemed to drift into every crack and crevice. You could almost laugh if your stomach wasn't churning from hunger and painful memories.
With a small sigh, you walked up to the counter, smiling politely at the cashier who stared back with a bored expression and a raised eyebrow.
"Hi, could I uhm," You glanced up at the lit-up menu and scanned for a good meal, only annoying the clerk further. Even though you and Toby were the only ones in the store.
"A number two?" It was more of a question, not really excited for what was labeled the 'Sloppy Seconds Combo'.
The employee jabbed your order into the pad and then directed their gaze at the only other person. Toby glowered at said employee but stepped forward anyway.
He squinted up at the menu for a few seconds before turning to you with a slightly embarrassed and frustrated expression, leaning down to your level to whisper.
"The letttt-letters are to-too small. Wha-What's the one on-on the faa-far right?" As he spoke he subtly pointed at the menu, obviously asking about the meal that was labeled, 'Tom's Special Secret'.
You cringed outwardly as you read the name.
"He'll have the number seven."
The worker was about to tap in the order before Toby pushed past you a little and leaned toward them.
"Maa-make it raw-rare."
His request raised another eyebrow but it was typed in any way, much to you and the worker's dismay. But you handed over your debit card and paid for the two meals.
The two of you collected your styrofoam cups and headed off to the not-so-weirdly sticky soda machines, straws and tops strewn everywhere but the trash can.
Toby mumbled to himself as he hovered his cup between the Root Beer tab and the Sprite tab, obviously, this was a tough and life-altering decision for him. Which made it hurt even more when he filled half of it up with the brown soda and then the rest of the way with the tang of lemon-lime.
Oh god, you usually weren't the type to assume a guy's personal details. But this dude was most likely a bisexual, you don't make the rules, you just witness nature in action. And this non-decision making was definitely the work of nature.
Looking away before he could catch you staring again, you filled up your cup with whatever it landed on and slapped on a top that didn't quite fit.
"Hey, how about you grab us a seat? I'll get the food when it's ready."
You figured that with his tics acting up at the moment, it probably wouldn't be the best decision to trust him with the tray of food you just paid for. Not in a rude way, just a logical and helpful way.
Not that it mattered, he just silently obliged and walked off, holding his cup with two hands.
Leaning against the wall you spun your straw around in the lid, waiting idly for the cooks to hurry up with your food. Though, it was prolonging the inevitable conversation about your past that you would have to dig into with a guy you barely knew.
Less than two minutes later the same clerk from before shoved the black tray onto the counter and looked you dead in the eye, not bothering to alert you since, again, you were the only other person here.
With a mumbled thanks you set your drink down with your food and lifted the tray up. With a quick survey around the room, you spotted Toby sitting slouched in a booth, pushed against the far wall, and hidden in a slight shadow.
Careful not to slip on any mystery fluid you briskly walked over to him, before making it safely and sliding the tray onto the weirdly yellow table.
Toby eyed the food for a second, not bothering to thank you for your reckless journey, before yanking the whole thing toward him and opening up all the boxes.
You decided to ignore his feverish hunting and sat down across from him, pulling a fry from the pile, looking off to the side in hopes that he forgot all about his questions from before.
You were wrong to hope for any of that, obviously.
"Ss-so you gun-gonna talk n-now?" Bits of food and sauce got stuck to the corner of his lips as he ate messily, the extra blood from his burger dribbling down his chin and-
--landing in the freshly fallen snow. A mess of stringy hair and brain, yet for some reason, you couldn't pull your eyes away.
Wincing, you averted your eyes again, looking anywhere but the drops of blood.
Combined with the similar tics and voice, it made your skin crawl as you recalled the masked creep.
Subtly shaking your head you sighed loudly, leaning your cheek against your palm, sticking another fry into your mouth. Your appetite from before was steadily disappearing.
"Do you really want to know, Toby?" Another hope that was crushed as soon as it lit up.
"Y-yup." Another large bite, you stared in freakish awe as his canines tore through the tough meat and bread.
Think, (Y/N). What's a good distraction?
"Uh, oh! How about we play twenty questions? That way we can both learn stuff about each other!"
Toby tilted his head in confusion, his eyes darting over your face, searching for something.
"What?" This time his tone seemed more genuine.
You cleared your throat, moving your hands nervously as you talked, explaining the childish ice-breaker game.
"Well, we both take turns asking questions until we reach twenty altogether. Make sense? It'll be fun, I swear."
He furrowed his eyebrows at you and slowly moved the partly devoured burger from his face. You could tell he was pondering this question with more thought than was necessary. Eventually, he shrugged, the corners of his mouth lifting a bit.
"Sh-sure, but y-you gotta g-g-go fi--first. I get t-to ass-ask."
You slowly nodded in agreement, trying not to fidget in your seat. You didn't want to appear too uncomfortable, then he would know he got you.
"H-how old ar-are you?"
Ok, you were not expecting him to ask that. Damn, guess he wants to take it a bit slower.
"I'm twenty. Pretty ironic, haha." God, that was the stupidest joke you ever told, but it made you feel better when Toby snickered under his breath.
You couldn't help but smile softly, admiring his little laugh. You took pride in lightening up the mood.
"How about you? You seem around my age." You spoke gently, trying not to make that offensive. He seemed on the edge and you really didn't want to ruin the good vibe. Or the mediocre vibe.
Toby hummed under his breath as he processed your question, features looking calmer than before.
"I-I'm twen-enty one."
The answer didn't shock you at all, he certainly looked the part of twenty-one, could maybe even pass for nineteen if he shaved.
Somehow his response made you feel safer, like someone so close in age to you couldn't possibly be a deranged murderer hunting down you and your friends.
No, it wasn't Toby.
His head jerked again as he took another bite of his burger, finishing it off. You were grateful the image of his sharp wolf teeth were gone.
"W-what were yuh-you thinking aboo-about earlier?" Now he was really smirking, excited to dig into your past as he dug into the bloody meat slathered in mayo and secret sauce.
You played with your straw idly, directing your attention to the table rather than Toby's piercing gaze. Filled with curiosity you couldn't really understand.
"I was... I was thinking about my sister."
It had been a really long time since you last spoke about this subject to anyone. Not since you first moved to North Carolina.
It was a time you held close to your chest to avoid the pitiful eyes and soft voices, the pointless hugs, and comfort that did you no good.
Sure, they were great when you were dressed in all black. When you were eighteen and broken, having just lost the two people who kept you alive.
Toby stiffened, not by much but enough for you to catch it when you subtly shifted in your seat.
"Wh-wha-what?" This time it was obvious that he couldn't quite force the word out, maybe in shock or something. Though you weren't sure why.
"Yeah. She died in a car accident with my mother. I was the only one to survive. I was..." you cringed at the word, "lucky."
There was no way anyone could have predicted it. Even if someone could, it wouldn't do any good. It's not like they could control the angry actions of some dumbass drunk.
Though maybe if she knew she was dealing with a dumbass drunk she would have switched lanes, or maybe even pulled over.
But there was no way to know that.
Your mom was a fierce and prideful woman, not afraid of confrontation, which usually got her into a lot of shit with the neighbors. She was like a tamed lion with sharp claws.
God, what you would give to listen to her off-key singing again. The way she tapped her fingers on the steering wheel and turned to you to try and read the lyrics off your lips.
She never knew the lyrics.
You remembered the song that was playing that evening, while the three of you were on your way back from a 'girls night.'
Though 'girls night' really just meant a trip to McDonald's and spinning each other so fast on the local park merry-go-round that one of you threw up.
That night it had been you, stumbling off the slowed torture device and falling headfirst into a nearby bush, vomiting all over your new sweater.
Your mom had laughed along with your baby sister, the both of them laying on the artificial grass as you struggled to get out of the thorny plant.
Yeah, you remembered the song.
You remembered it because it was from your own Spotify playlist, the one you had made for 'girls nights.' The one filled with loud Taylor Swift songs and early two-thousands nostalgia.
The song that had come up was sweeter than the others though, softer.
'Where'd All The Time Go?'