After another exhausting day at work, Rory found himself dozing off at the bus stop. It was three in the afternoon and he had done nothing but work work and more work. 

He shouldn't complain though. It was his own fault for saying he would work whatever hours whenever and however they were needed. 

Thankfully, Jude Bex had stopped texting him after the last message he had sent. It was honestly exhausting for Rory to receive messages from people. He wasn't very social by nature. And work forced him to interact with people on a daily basis. 

When the bus finally came to a stop, twenty minutes late, Rory was thankful for the thirty minute drive to the mall. He didn't want to go, but the bigger stores he used to go to a few years back were just too far away from his current home. 

Rather than wasting so much time on a coat, he decided to just suck it up and go to the mall. It didn't matter where he got the coat so long as he got one. 

                                                                     ***

Rory couldn't help the scowl that formed on his face the moment he stepped off the bus and entered the hell known as Mall. 

He took in the smiling faces and loud yelling and wondered, not for the first time, what his life would be like if he actually landed a job right after college. Or ran away with his ex like she had suggested after a year of them dating. Or had better parents that didn't hate him.  

Forcing those thoughts to the side, Rory headed down the long hallway toward one of the popular shops, not even bothering to look at the name. 

Ping!

Letting out a groan and getting weird looks from the workers in the store, Rory pulled out his phone and frowned at the message. 

That Man: Turn around. 

Silently regretting his decision, Rory turned around and met the cold blue eyes of Jude Bex. 

"What are you doing here?" Rory demanded. He put his phone back in his pocket. 

"Browsing." 

Rolling his eyes, Rory made to turn away but was stopped by a hand gripping his upper arm. Clenching his jaw, he spun around and glared at Jude. "Let go." 

"Browse with me." Jude demanded. 

"Yeah, no." Rory snapped. "I'm running on barely four hours of sleep thanks to you. I just want to buy a coat and go home. Bye." 

"Yeah, no." Jude mimicked. "I'll buy you a coat. Then you can browse with me." 

"Do you have a filter installed in your brain?" Rory demanded as he jerked his arm free. "I said no." 

"Would you say no to a warm dinner and ride back home?" Jude asked with a raise of one brow. 

Idiot.  

"I don't take strangers from candy." Rory paused in his walking as he tried to decipher what the fuck he just said. "Wait. That made shit sense." 

"I'll take that as a yes." Jude stated, confident. 

"DUDE!" Rory yelled before realizing why he hated public places. 

The manager crossed the small store and kicked him out with a warning to never return again. 

"JESUS!" Rory swore as he started walking down the busy mall. "What does it take to get a fucking coat in peace?" 

"I can get you a coat and dinner. " 

Rory tossed a glare in the bastard's direction. "Why are you trying to persuade me to join you on your stupid trek of 'browsing?'" 

"I'm offering you a coat and a free meal. What of it?" 

Rory stared at Jude like some idiot while he tried to process what Jude just said. "I'm going home. I can't understand English." 

Just as he was about to turn, he felt a wave of nausea hit him like a brick to the face. Without another thought, Rory's vision started going black. He was out before he even had a chance to hit the floor.