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For a while, all me and Peter did in that old, busted up diner booth was talk. Idle talk about random things of little to no importance. The rainy weather, my sucky job; even about where I was attending college. He was asking a lot of questions; seeming to be genuinely curious about my life. I was more than happy to answer every single them with a smile. It wasn't like I had anything to hide.
"I've only been in this town for a few months." I started, fumbling around with a scrap of paper from our straws, "I found a roomate and a little apartment a few blocks away from here. It's a bit pricey, but it's a really nice place. My landlord takes good care of the building."
Peter nodded his head, sipping away at his shake. He wasn't saying much, but I knew he was listening.
"What about you, Peter?" I inquired, propping myself up on my elbows. If he was asking me a bunch of questions, it was only fair that I did the same to him, right? "Do you live with anybody? Or are you out on your own?"
Peter looked up at me, smiling a devilish grin. Those huge, unnatural canines glistened softly in the dim light of the diner.
"Well, I'm living alone for now, but hopefully that's gonna change.. real soon."
At first, I couldn't register what exactly he had said to answer my question. My attention was solely fixated on something else entirely; his expression. The half lidded eyes, the smile too big for his mouth.. And those teeth. I just couldn't get over how big they were. I hadn't seen his tongue yet, but I could only imagine it matched everything else in size. I was almost scared to actually see it. I couldn't explain why, but.. The thought made a cold chill run up my spine.
I was trying not to stare, or at least not make it so obvious, but I couldn't help myself. Peter must've noticed, though, because our eyes suddenly locked. I quickly turned my head away to avert my gaze, but it was too late; he had already caught my creepy gawking. I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could utter a single word, I heard a low, deep chuckle from the other side of the table.
"What, see something ya' like?" He purred playfully, reaching his hand up to his mouth. I watched with a confused look as he used his fingers to manually part his lips, giving me a better view of what I had been staring at. Milk white fangs that had a strange, almost inhuman shape to them. I swallowed the hard lump in my throat as my body tensed up.
'...They're freaking huge...'
"I-.. I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to stare." I mumbled softly. I felt awful for looking at him like a circus freak, but it was just so strange to me. In general, Peter was much bigger than I in every conceivable aspect. He towered over me in height, his body was a few inches wider than my own, and his hands looked like they could cover my entire face with ease. It was the first thing I had noticed about him when we met, and it still continued to catch me off guard. I mean, how couldn't it?
"Oh, you don't need to apologize. You can stare as much as you'd like, darling." Peter cooed, twirling his shake straw around his fingers.
I slouched down into my seat, my face red hot with embarrassment. At least it didn't seem like my rude staring offended him. I cleared my throat, and tried to regain my composure. All I could do now to break the tension was change the topic; as fast as possible. He might not have been uncomfortable, but I sure as heck was.
"So... Peter, are you-..."
"Y/n! Heads up!" A voice suddenly interrupted. I turned my head to see TK looking out the service window, frantically pointing over towards the front door. I stood up front my seat in a swift motion, fixing my hair and apron as I did. They didn't need to tell me what they were pointing at; it was already blantly obvious. Customers. Break time was over.
I was relieved, in a way. At least something happened to pull me out of that humiliating situation. But, even still, I did have fun talking to him. It sucked that it had to end so soon.
I looked over at Peter, and gave him a small smile.
"Hey. I really enjoyed hanging out with you, but I need to get back to work." I said with shrug of my shoulders, grabbing my shake off the table, "I'm sorry for cutting it short, but ya know, TK is callin' me."
Peter's smile didn't once alter as I spoke. He didn't looked fazed or upset or anything like that. Just.. really happy.
"That's alright. We'll have plenty of time for more dates in the future, won't we?" He asked with a hopeful gaze. Once again, those puppy dog eyes made my heart sqeeze inside my chest. How could anybody say to no to a face like that? And better yet, how could somebody switch their expressions so damn fast? Flirtatious and alluring one moment; innocent and playful the next. It was unbelievable how quickly they could change...
But, no matter how cute his face may have looked, I needed to look past it. In reality, I still wasn't one hundred percent sure if I wanted to let this go any further. My mind was in a mental tug of war; unable to choose the best option for me. I liked Peter. Or at least, I thought I did. But did I really have the time and energy for a serious relationship right now?
I looked over at him, and gave him my most honest answer. "We'll see, okay?"
This seemed good enough for Peter, because he just smiled and nodded his head in response.
Behind me, I could hear the sound of our greeting bell chiming as the front door was pushed open by a group of customers. I turned on my heels and met them with a smile, showing them to a table on the other side of the restaurant. It was a small gathering of four; two young children and their parents hungry for an early dinner. After seating them, I began to follow the normal server routine. Menus, drinks, appetizers, entrées. Easy as that.
As soon as I had wrote down the ticket for their meal, though, another table came strolling in behind them. And another. And another. And another after that. Before I could even realize what was going on, our restaurant was packed full of customers again by a random, plot convenient rush. Me and TK ran around from table to table, serving and cashing out customers left and right. Because of how busy it was, I hadn't even noticed that Peter didn't leave.
But, eventually, I did notice. I walked by his booth and caught a glimpse of him from the side, his head turned in my general direction. Each time I passed after that, I instinctively looked over to his table, surprised to find our eyes locking every single time. It didn't take long for me to realize that Peter was watching me. Every order I took, every plate of food I delivered... He was eyeing it all like a hawk.
Knowing that somebody had their eyes on me suddenly made it incredibly difficult to focus. I was forgetting orders, stuttering as I spoke, and in general just struggling with things I normally didn't have an issue with. It was almost like I could feel his eyes burning into the back of my head. I was probably just imagining it, but.. It sure as heck felt real at the time.
As soon as the crowd died down and I had a minute to breathe, I dissapeared into the kitchen; making sure to close the swinging door behind me. Me and TK had been running around for about two hours, which surprisingly flew right by. Even if it didn't feel like that long, I was still absolutely exhausted; both psychically and mentally. Not really because of my tables, but.. because of someone else.
TK looked over their shoulder from the grill, raising an eyebrow curiously. "Hey, Y/n, everything okay?"
I was quiet for a moment, internally debating on what I should say. I didn't want to worry TK with my irrational fears, but I didn't really want to lie to them, either. The truth was, Peter was kind of freaking me out. There's no way it was just convenient timing.. He was definitely staring, watching intently from that booth. Every single time I looked over at him, I could see his eyes locked onto me. Didn't he realize how creepy that was? Or how uncomfortable that would make a person? Especially when they were trying to work... It was impossible to focus on customers when somebody was observing your every move.
But, nonetheless, I bit my tongue. Even though I wanted to be honest with them, I knew telling TK would be a bad idea. They'd no doubt go into protective sibling mode; walking out into the dining room and telling Peter to back off. I didn't want to cause a scene, or start a problem where there didn't need to be one. I could just talk to Peter about it later... No need to drag TK into this stupid stuff.
"Yeah, I'm good." I said with a smile, fixing my apron around my waste, "Im just really tired. What time is it, almost six, right?"
TK nodded their head. "Yes Ma'am. Evening shift will be here in about twenty minutes. You wanna go ahead and clock out a bit early? I think you've worked hard enough today."
I looked at TK with tears welling up in my eyes. "Dude... Have I ever told you that you're amazing?"
"Many a-times, but it never hurts to hear it again. I'll see ya' tomorrow, Y/n."
I nodded my head, giving them a little wave. "Of course. Goodnight, TK. See ya' tomorrow."
After cleaning off the service counter and washing some of the piled-up dishes, I made my way back to the office. Inside of my head, I was throwing a party. It may have only been twenty minutes, but I was still grateful that I could go home early at all. It had been a long day, and I was completely exhausted. I didn't think I could go another minute on my feet. Still, I had to carry on for now. I needed to at least make it home before I collapsed.
I pulled off my apron and hung it up on the wall, making sure that my server book was tucked securely into one of the pockets. I definitely didn't need a repeat of yesterday.
I thought back to that memory again. When Peter handed me my server book, it was drenched. Not like it had been in a slight drizzle for a few minutes, but like... it had been dropped in a puddle. The water had soaked through most of the pages; smearing the ink and destroying practically everything inside. I hadn't thought of it yesterday, but how? How could it have gotten so wet after only being outside for a few short minutes? If Peter saw me drop it, it couldnt have been on the ground for that long, right...?
I shook my head, dismissing the thoughts.
'You're thinking too much into it, Y/n.'
After putting on my baseball cap and hoodie, I threw my backpack over my shoulders and opened the back door, stepping outside in the world. I was surprised to find that it was raining again; much heavier than it had been the day before. And since it was late fall, the sun started setting much sooner, leaving the world dark with the help of the heavy storm clouds. It looked like it was the middle of the night, despite being only six in the evening. That made my trip home a lot more unsettling. I hated walking alone in the dark...
I flipped up my hoodie and sighed aloud, a bit annoyed at the unusual darkness and crappy weather. I liked rainy days, sure... But walking home in them after a long day wasn't exactly my favorite pastime.
Before I could start my walk, though, my attention was suddenly drawn to a dark figure in the corner of my eye. I turned my head and jumped a bit, surprised to find a person standing a few feet away from my restaurant's back door. They had a hood flipped over their head, concealing their face from my view. But even though I couldn't see who exactly it was, I somehow knew it wasnt an employee. It was... someone else.
"H-hello?" I asked softly, my hands gripping onto my backpack straps, "Can I help you? This alley is off limits... It's kind of for employees only."
The stranger chuckled deeply, my brow furrowing at the familiar sound of a low, sulty voice.
"Off limits, Y/n? Even for me?"
The stranger pulled down their hood, letting the faint glow from distant street lamps illuminate their face. I was surprised, and somewhat relieved, to see none other than Peter; creepily lurking in the shadows of the alley way. The fear inside me instantly left my body, being replaced by a sense of sudden frustration instead.
"Geez, Peter, don't freakin' do that, you scared me! What in the world are you doing back here?" I half-yelled, pushing on his shoulder to show my annoyance. He laughed at my anger, barely moving at all from my nudge.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He said with a smile, shurgging his shoulders, "When it started to storm, I figured I'd offer to give you a ride home. You'll get sick walking around in the rain like this."
I looked at Peter, my shoulders tensing a bit. He wanted to give me a ride home? As nice as that may have sounded in theory... Something inside of me was screaming that it was a terrible idea. I didn't really know why, though. Maybe it was because this man was still a fairly new acquaintance, and hadn't fully earned my trust yet. Maybe it was because of his creepy staring in the diner.
Or maybe... it was a bit of both.
But, still. A ride home wouldn't be so bad, would it? It seemed like Peter was just trying to do something nice. I was so exhausted from work, and standing right now felt like literal hell. I was absolutely dreading that walk back to my apartment...
"Are you sure? I don't want you to go out of your way or anything." I said, looking up at Peter.
His face lit up like a Christmas tree, and he vigorously nodded his head. "Yes, I'm sure. It's really no problem, I'm happy to make sure you get home safe."
And with that, Peter began to walk out of the alley, motioning for me to follow behind him. He lead me down the sidewalk a bit, his back turned to me and neither of us saying a word. The heavy rain pitter pattered on the ground around us, drowning out all other nearby sounds. No cars or people, no music or planes. Just the rain, and the occasional rumble of booming thunder.
Eventually, Peter stopped at the passenger side of an old, beat up van. It was dirty white in coloration, with no windows on the back or sides. It was the kind of van your parents would tell you to be cautious of when you were little. The one that would pop up on the evening news for a kidnapping attempt. We all know what kinda van Im talking about.
'...THIS is what Peter drives...?' I asked internally, looking over the vehicle with a judgemental stare, 'That's... honestly pretty fitting for him... A kind of creepy van for a kind of creepy guy.'
Peter unlocked the passenger door, holding it open for me with a gentle smile on his face. Climbing up into the seat, I had to push aside some scattered papers and trash on the ground beneath my feet. His van was a little bit messy, but hey, I didn't really care. A couple empty water bottles and some crumbled up papers never hurt anybody.
I got comfortable in the seat, waiting for Peter to close the door and head to the other side. But, to my surprise, he didn't do that right away. Instead, he suddenly leaned in close, pulling the seatbelt over my chest and clicking it into the holder. My face was a deep red, and my body tensed up from his abrupt closeness. With his face a few inches away from mine, he looked at me and smiled.
"Gotta be safe, darling." He purred sweetly. He then shut the door and skipped over to the driver's side, hopping into his seat like nothing had happened.
I sunk into my seat a bit and rolled my eyes. He one hundred percent, without a doubt, did that on purpose...
Peter turned on his van and began to drive, humming a soft melody as he started to cruise down the street. I rested my head against the window, softly sighing at the feeling of the cool glass on my skin. I watched as little droplets of water slid down the pane, streaking against the surface in jagged trails. I wasn't looking at him directly, but I could tell that Peter was occasionally glancing over at me. I could feel those cold blue eyes burning into my skin. I began to experience that strange, uneasy feeling again. The same one I felt at work when he was sitting at that booth.
"Peter, why were you staring at me in the diner earlier?" I asked blunty, the question completely unprompted and out of the blue. Might as well get it out of the way now, right? After all, I felt like I deserved to know the reason.
From the corner of my eye, I could see his body shift slightly at the wheel.
I waited for a moment, expecting him to say something to answer me... But he was as silent as a sinner in church. I looked over at him, and cleared my throat to grab his attention.
"It made me uncomfortable. And I couldn't focus on my work. So, why did you do it?"
I watched as his fingers gripped onto the steering wheel. His eyes were darting around the road, almost like he was trying to look at something else to avoid my inquiry. It wasn't going to work, though.
"Peter. Tell me." I said in a much firmer tone, crossing my arms over my chest. He must have realized I wasn't going to let it go, because he eventually began to talk. Took him long enough.
"I.. I wasn't trying to make you feel scared or uncomfortable." He started, glancing over at me, "I told you... Im not really good with people. I just... liked looking at you, and watching you work. You're really good at your job... I was impressed by how amazing you were."
My expression softened, and I felt a bit of guilt inside my stomach. His response was definitely not what I had expected. Had I been being too harsh? His reason seemed totally innocent, and in a way... kind of sweet. Maybe I was blowing this way out of proportion...
"...I'm sorry. That's actually really nice of you to say." I said with a little smile. He looked over at me, and returned the gesture.
Peter suddenly pulled the van into park, stopping in front of a familiar looking apartment building. I had been so focused on talking to him that I hadn't even realized we already made it to my house. It was a short drive, after all. Just a few minutes from the diner. I opened up the passenger door and stepped onto the sidewalk, Peter doing the same before walking over to me. I threw my bag over my shoulder, and looked up at him with an appreciative smile.
"Well, this is where we part ways. Thank you for the ride, Peter. It means a lot to me."
Peter nodded his head, leaning his back against the van. Even while bent over like that, he was still so much taller than me. "No problem. I know it might seem sudden, but when can I see you again?"
I shurgged my shoulders. "I'm... honestly not sure. I work a lot, you know? I don't ever really have much time for anything else..." I said with a bit of a far off look, crossing my arms over my chest, "You can come visit me at the diner if Im working. And I sometimes have Saturday or Sunday off. I'm sure we could hang out then."
Peter smiled. "Then we can do that. As long as I can see you, I'll be content."
Peter stepped forward, wrapping his arms around my waist in a tight, unexpected embrace. I was a bit surprised by the move, but returned the hug nonetheless. I was taken back by how warm he was, even despite the coldness around us. And he smelled good, too... Like flowers, almost. Kind of a weird scent for a guy, but... It was nice. Pleasant, even.
For a moment, everything was calm. I wasn't worried about the rain soaking into my clothes, or of my nosy neighbors seeing us on the sidewalk. All I was focused on was me and Peter; standing in front of my apartment wrapped in each other's arms. My stomach was tingling with a strange, foreign emotion, and my face was hot with a soft crimsom blush.
I hadn't ever felt like this before. But then again, when did I ever have the time to? My life had been revolving around school and work from the start, always being number one. But now, I wanted to focus on something else. I wanted to follow the butterflies in my stomach. I wanted to keep feeling like this. Even though there were a lot of uncertainties right now, I didn't want to lose whatever this was.
However, as me and Peter stood there in the rain, that warm, pleasent feeling was suddenly crushed by a terrifying realization. One that hit me like an oncoming freight train. I hadn't thought about it; I was too caught up in my own emotions to realize.
My body began to shake, and I mumbled out the question in a soft, shaky voice.
"Peter... H-How did you know where I lived?"
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