I stepped into my flat and heaved out a long sigh as I locked the door behind me, dropping my bag onto the couch and then flopping down after it. I couldn't believe I had given a total stranger my number, a total stranger for goodness sake! What was I thinking!?

I wasn’t. That was the problem. Ugh.

I scoffed at myself, the soft, degrading sound echoing through the empty room. My pocket buzzed, and my hand unconsciously reached back to pull it out of my pocket; my finger swiping over the screen to unlock it.

I had gotten a text.

That was odd, I never got texts. Perhaps it was a scam. It was from an unknown number and I didn’t have any relatives or friends who would be texting me so that was most likely the scenario.

That being said, my heart beat a little faster and I bit my lip at the thrill of receiving an unknown text. It’s human nature, sue me.

Hey Killon,

Read the text.

This is Edric.

My lips tilted into a smile at the next line.

I just wanted to make sure you made it home safe.

Despite my former uncertainties about me just randomly giving out my name and number to some random Joe Smo I met in a bar, I was much too pleased to be receiving a text from him. From Edric. My chest felt all fuzzy and warm… I didn't like it. Or maybe I did… it was just different.

I bit my lip uncertainty, my thumbs hovering drunkenly over my keyboard as my mind debated as to whether I should respond or not.

If I did decide to text him back I might actually make a new friend, have someone to text or go to the movies with. Maybe even… *gasp* maybe we would even try the whole dating thing.

I almost scoffed again at the thought.

But then, on the other hand... if I avoided him and didn't answer the text I could stop unwanted feelings from invading my delirious mind and I could just keep living my happy life with my lovely books. Yes, I think that would be a better option.

I mean, we only just met that night so there’s no real reason for me to have any obligations to answer his text. Yup, best to ignore-

It’s spelled Killian actually. Haha, honest mistake. I made it home safe, thank you for asking.

I stared down at my screen with a very unamused look and a prominent frown on my face. Before I had even made up my mind my treacherous thumbs had typed and sent a response. And it sounded happy and encouraging for pete's sake! Not to mention (before I knew what I was doing mind you, I wouldn't have done this if I was in the right state of mind.) I saved his number as a contact and I even starred it! I scowled at myself crossly, pushing the star to unfavourite him from my contacts with a little more force than needed.

Why was I getting so carried away all of a sudden? Getting all giddy and happy from a text that was sent from a person I had just met wasn’t like me at all! This was freaky, a bit more than a little freaky to be honest. Hmm, maybe this is what they call love at first sight, like they portray in all those mushy movies. It'd be quite a typical type of story, wouldn’t it?

The bookish, shy bottom - that’s me - is at a bar and tye dominant, kind, and extremely sexy top (did I just call him sexy??) waltzes in and romances him. Through conversation, they find out that they have a lot in common and then they exchange numbers. (Crap! I gave him my number! And I never do that!) Apparently, from what I've gathered, love is unconventional and awkward but completely romantic and… wait, no. That can't be it. That wouldn't happen to me! Would it?

No! It wouldn’t! Because I’m definitely not special enough to be starring in some two-hour long sappy show that always ends with pastel colors and a kiss while the camera slowly pans out and ‘the end’ written in swirly white lettering plays across the screen.

Yes, yes. I do enjoy a good rom-com now and then, and You Got Mail is a classic that should be up there with the stupid Titanic movie and all that jazz. I’m a sucker for a happy ending I guess, so sue me.

----

*bzzzt* *bzzzt* *bzz-

“This is K. A. Allerton speaking, how may I help you?”

A deep, amused chuckle rang through the line and my heart immediately sped up a couple of notches, a giddy smile crossing over my lips.

“Hey K, do you have to answer your phone like that? I feel like I’m getting called into the principal's office for being a naughty boy.” Edric's voice filtered through the receiver and I could just see him shaking his head slowly; silvery blue eyes sparkling with amusement. He didn't wait for my answer and continued.

“How ya doing today?”

I smiled happily as I shuffled through the pile of paperwork I was trying to muddle through currently. I hate taxes.

“Hey, Edric! I'm… Okay, I guess…” My eyes strayed back to the papers and I had to rethink my previous answer testily. “As good as paying taxes can be.” I muttered darkly under my breath and Edric chuckled again, henceforth making another smile take over my previous frown.

Yes, yes. I know I sounded overly eager to talk to him.

We had actually been talking to each other for a few days now, or at least he would ask questions and I would answer. I wasn’t really good at making conversation so him dominating where the conversation was going was perfect for me.

He would just call me at some point during the day whether it be while I was eating breakfast or while I was in the shower. (I think I almost broke a bone in my haste to get to the phone, that along with the fact that I almost flooded my apartment with water in my haste… Ugh, I have issues.)

Usually, I would have been irritated that he thought so highly of himself that he would just expect me to drop whatever I was doing to talk to him, but then again I would… Is that bad? He never acted like he was above anyone else, he just carried himself with respect for himself and everyone else, and he was confident. He was everything I looked for in a person.

I always looked forward to his calls, and it didn’t matter where I was or what I was doing when he called, I just loved that he did. We hadn’t actually seen each other more than that one time back in the club, but we had talked plenty since then.

I loved talking to him, although I found it practically impossible to open up to anyone else I felt like I could just be myself with Edric. And I loved that about him. I couldn’t believe that my little accidental meltdown at Simmer had already happened a week ago.

He never asked for anything, and I never offered. We just were, and he made me feel safe.

About a half an hour later Edric and I were done talking and I was done with my taxes. Eric was a genius. I mean, I already knew this but seriously, he was amazingly smart. And with the looks to boot. Er…. I mean… he's smart… and good looking… Fine! I might be low key crushing on him… but just a little bit!

I smiled and a light chuckle puffed past my lips, the edge of my phone propped against my bottom lip. My eyes shifted to the clock mounted on the wall in the kitchen, it was nine p.m.. All in all, I was pretty happy. Usually, taxes took me way longer and my mood would be drastically different after I was done. But this time, since I had Edric’s help I was done earlier and I was giddy as a bumblebee. Ugh, that was a bad example.

It wasn’t that I was bad at paperwork per say, but… it just happened to take me longer for some reason. But now, since Edric had shown me some shortcuts and tips I think I could really get the hang of it now!

Well, I do believe I have worked hard enough to earn myself some book reading time.

My phone was pushed into my back pocket and I swung my legs off the couch, grabbing my bag which was sitting next to me on the floor and standing up. I did a quick check to make sure I had my sketchbook, wallet, and the book I was currently reading in my bag before I grabbed my keys and headed for the door.

--

“A glass of sprite please.”

“Of course, K, you never order anything else.”

I laughed and shook my head, giving a playful glare to the waiter as I passed him the menu that was laying in front of me, placing it into his open palm with a smile. The tables always came with menus already set out but I never needed one; I never needed the menu or the crisply folded napkin and polished to perfection silverware set that came along with it. I always ordered a soda and possibly an order of nachos but nothing else.

Don’t get me wrong, Simmer - the club where I read - had amazing food, but the nachos were just my favourite.

With book in hand, I thanked the waiter when he brought me back my soda. His name was Joshua, everyone called him Josh for short as his name tag proclaimed but I knew all the people who had the night shifts since that was the only time I came. I wouldn’t have been able to talk to Josh without having a meltdown if I didn’t know him. He was a nice guy and I think I could actually consider him a friend.

I settled into my usual booth and smiled giddily as I picked up where I had last left off in my book, my beautiful characters had finally acknowledged that they were both completely, utterly, deeply, head over heals and madly in love with each other. Cheesy? Yes, yes it was. And I loved every single second of it.

“You all alone, sexy?” A slightly slurred voice invaded my ears and the smell of alcohol wafted over my senses.

Oh ew. Please… This is just pathetic.

I actually rolled my eyes in an annoyed way as I begrudgingly set my book down to turn my attention to the blatantly drunk man, oh to obviously trying to get into my pants.

“Look, sir, i’m not interested. Thank you but no.”

He didn’t seem too impressed and leaned forward towards me with a drunken smile on his face, making me lean back to get away from his putrid breath as my heart sped up.

“Playing hard to get huh?” He scooted closer to me and I stood up, backing away from him and putting a stern look on my face.

“That’s enough Sir, I have kindly asked you to leave and you have refused. I request that you do not follow me, goodnight to you sir.”

I grabbed my bag and slung it over my shoulder before I made my way to the bathroom. I was planning on making a trip to the restroom soon anyways but that guy just made me leave my own booth! I didn’t want to deal with guys like him and I was actually a bit surprised that Chris - the bartender - let him get that intoxicated. Usually, Simmer’s enforcement of their strict rules were pristine as the five-star rating they received on Google maps; but somehow this guy must have slipped through the cracks.

I had a good mind to report him though, and I probably would have if I wasn’t… well, me.

I took in a quick breath to calm my heart down and pushed open the door, the music being a bit muffled as the door swung shut behind me; the beat of the music making the the wood hum against the metal frame as it shut.

I was actually a little proud of myself, four months ago just that little, unexpected interaction would have sent me over the edge into a full-fledged panic attack. I pushed my bag further up my shoulder and fixed my hair in the mirror, giving myself a smile and really telling myself that I was okay.

You’re okay, you did you so well! You dealt with that… guy and you did it all by yourself.

I relieved myself and washed my hands, my breathing evening out as I continued to remind myself to breathe steadily until I was completely calm. That just put me in better spirits than I was before. I did it! All my myself!

With a stupidly wide grin on my face, I walked back out of the bathroom and scanned my eyes around until they landed on my usual booth. The guy was gone and just my soda was still there, sitting in a ring of perspiration shaped like the bottom of the glass.

Good, he actually left.

I thought smugly to myself.

I slid back into my seat and dropped my bag beside me, looking up to smile at Josh - who was collecting a drink order behind the bar - to tell him I was okay. He was one of the only people I considered my friend, a few of my coworkers also somehow managed to earn that title but outside of work I had very few ‘friends’. I really didn’t mind this fact though, friends - and people in general most of the time - just weren’t trustworthy, and sometimes weren’t really worth the effort.

Although, sometimes there is that one person out of the millions who will surprise me. Someone who will show real kindness to me or to someone else, and it never fails to make me happy to know that people like that still exist in the world.

With that thought in mind, my train of thought shifted back to Edric. He was kind, honest, and genuine. It made me smile more than I should have when thinking of someone, and I leaned forward to pull my phone out of my pocket. No phone calls or texts. I wasn’t disappointed that much… Just a little…

I scolded myself at the pit of disappointment welling up in my stomach and chest. I shouldn’t be so clingy, especially when he was always so sweet to me.

I shoved my phone dejectedly back into my book bag, reaching out to drag the glass cup of soda that still sat on the table closer to me, the perspiration from the glass slowly dripping down the side to make a ring around the bottom. I drew the straw into my mouth with my tongue and sucked down a gulp of fizzy soda, albeit a little watery now due to the time it sat unattended.

I resumed with my night and went back to reading my book, sipping my soda slowly as I turned page after page contentedly About a half an hour later I started to feel a little fuzzy, like I had been drinking and was starting to get a buzz even though I knew I hadn’t been. An hour after that I was feeling completely and utterly smashed, my pupils blown wide and my head tilting from side to side as my vision became blurry. My uncoordinated fingers went to reach for my bag but miscalculated the distance and direction altogether so I just succeeded in knocking my now empty glass of soda over; making half-melted pieces of ice and a black straw slide across the table in the likeness of a fountain shape.

Good riddance, I feel like I’m in the middle of a bouncy house… that’s spinning in circles upside-down!

I actually felt myself giggle at the ridiculous thought.

“Hey there, you don’t look so good. Why don’t you come with me?”

It was that voice from before! Hmm, who was that again? Oh yeah! It was creepy dude from before with the bad smelling breath and wandering hands… Great.

It took a few seconds for my hazy mind to process what he was saying, and if anything the more I tried to think the darker my sight became, making me have to really think hard to remember which way was up and what I was trying to think of in the first place. Was it something about unicorns?

Um… the square root of 4 is… wait, would that make four a square root if seven was… what’s this person doing coming closer? What’s a square with a root anyways? So, would it be like a tree in Minecraft??? What was I thinking again?

I don’t know.

“Come on.”

I felt a hand grab my arm, then another one grabbing me around the shoulders. I started to pull away immediately, the feeling of someone touching me making my skin crawl and panic automatically rising in my chest.