With the singing portion of their date over, Amelia and Ian exited their karaoke booth with empty, craving stomachs, their laughs filling the halls as they moved to the attached bar, ordering a Pina Colada for Amelia and a Mudslide for Ian alongside a small tray of chicken and fries to share.

It wasn’t until they were half done with their meal that Amelia’s suspicious gaze finally shifted from Ian to the serious looking guy in the furthest corner of the room standing up to order nothing but a black coffee, then returning back to that same corner with a single glance at Amelia before he supposedly went back to minding his own business. At that point, Amelia finally leaned in toward Ian and spoke up in a whisper, not caring if she sounded paranoid or not.

“Hey, Ian?” Amelia nudged the taller boy with her elbow. “Does that guy there look familiar to you?” She pointed only with her gaze, trying not to raise any alarm.

“Black hair with the fancy coat? No… Why? You think he’s one of those thirst trap guys you follow on TikTok?”

“Oh my god, no, that’s—“ Amelia chuckled slightly, but this situation was giving her the creeps too badly for her to fully laugh at the concept. “No, seriously, he’s freaking me out. I swear he’s following us. The fact that I feel like I’ve seen him before doesn’t make me feel any better. I think he might have been on the bus earlier.”

“What? Are you sure? It could just be a coincidence. I’m not really getting the stalker vibe.”

“Maybe you’re not getting the ‘stalker vibe’ because you’re not the one he’s stalking…” Amelia mumbled, holding out hope that Ian might take her concerns even a little bit more seriously.

“No one comes here all alone just to get a coffee, and does he look like he’s here to bust out some songs on Karaoke?” Amelia flailed her hands anxiously when she spoke.

“…Well, maybe he has some feelings he needs to let out that can only be expressed through metal.” Ian wasn’t taking this seriously at all.

“I swear to you, my intuition has never failed me, and I’m mega freaked. Can we just… stay here until he leaves first?”

“Yeah, let’s wait for it to get even darker so he can wait outside until nightfall and jump us.” He quipped.

“Oh my god, Ian! Why would you even put that idea in my head?” Amelia raised her voice, her patience wearing thin. She could feel in her gut that something wasn’t right, all she wanted was for Ian to trust that.

“Look, he’s dressed up nice and fancy, more so than I am, admittedly… so maybe he was supposed to have a date and just got stood up. If it’ll help you feel better, I can call for an Uber to pick us up after he leaves—then we can see if your theory is right and avoid getting jumped, but I’m sure it’s nothing.”

The relief Amelia felt was instant, the tightness in her chest loosening its grip on her. Her decision was clear as soon as her arm shot out to reach for the menu again.

“…Thank you. Let’s order more fries, and maybe– Oh! Do you want to share some pancakes?!”

“Do they serve pancakes this late…?”

“Well sure, why wouldn’t they?” Amelia blinked, poking at the name on the menu to get her intention across.

“Okay then… Pancakes at six in the evening. Why not?”

. . . . .

It was an hour and a half later when the man finally stood from his chair in the corner of the room a second time, Amelia immediately perked up, poking Ian’s wrist to alert him.

“Ian, Ian look…!” She whispered, then both of their eyes moved to follow the suspicious man as he approached the bartender.

“I’ll take another black coffee, please. Thank you.” The dark haired man requested, and the two just looked at each other hopelessly.

“Is this guy serious…?! A plain black coffee?! He’s not even doing anything! No book, no laptop– he’s barely even looking at his cellphone! What is up with him?!” Amelia kept her voice hushed as she ranted her frustrations at Ian.

“Okay… maybe you were onto something after all.” Ian muttered back to her.

“I told you….” She whispered back under her breath, but when Ian scooted his chair back, her eyes went wide and she herself straightened up her back some.

“Wait– what are you doing?” Amelia couldn’t help but feel her nerves spike right back up at that moment.

“I’m gonna say something to him.” 

Oh no. Oh no, no, no, Ian sounded determined and confident, and that was never good.

“Oh God, please don’t do that, we don’t know what kind of person he is, and–”

Too late. Ian was already standing right in front of the man who seemed to be casually waiting at the bar for his coffee to be served.

“Hey bud, what's the deal? Are you gonna keep trailing us all night, or what?”

“...Excuse me?” The man’s brows furrowed as he peered between Ian and Amelia, leading to Amelia hiding her face behind her hand as she practically buried herself in her drink.

“I’m asking what the deal is here. Why are you still here, at a Karaoke bar, alone, drinking plain black coffee at 7:30?” Ian asked again, trying to make himself look taller against the man that clearly had more than a few inches on him.

“Are you making fun of me?” The man asked with a slight degree of irritation, and Ian could only glance back at Amelia as if calling for backup. But, with Amelia’s face still hidden behind her hand, Ian continued on alone, this time quietly enough that Amelia would be unable to overhear. He had to be strong. No– actually, even better, he just had to use bribes.

“Listen, my girlfriend is genuinely concerned– said she saw you on the bus, now here, and she’s afraid to leave because she thinks you’ll jump us or something. If this is all just some coincidence, could you do a guy a favor and just… go home anyway? You’d be helping me out a lot.” Ian muttered to the man and as his hand traveled to his pocket, the man’s eyes just curiously and confusedly followed.

“Here.” Ian lifted his hand as inconspicuous as he could, a ten dollar bill slipped between his fingers. 

“...Ten dollars?” The man seemed judgemental, and didn’t bother keeping his voice down at all, causing Ian to shush him, sigh and dig back into his pockets.

“Fine, take this and go.” The sum had grown to twenty dollars, and with another defeated sigh, Ian handed it off to the other.

“Very well… Even though this is the oddest interaction I’ve ever had.” The man snatched up the money, burying it in his own pocket before making way for the front door. 

Amelia watched his every step, and once the door shut behind him, she jumped out of her chair. 

“Oh my God! What happened?! What’d you say? What’d he say?!” Even though Ian had been nervous approaching the man, it was well worth it seeing how relieved Amelia was now, her remaining energy coming out as a flurry of questions, resembling a small, anxious dog, like a Chihuahua, or a Pomeranian.

“I just talked to him– It sounded like a misunderstanding, that’s all.” Ian smiled, shoving his hands into his coat pockets with his own sigh of relief.

“...Oh, really? And he left anyway? Just like that? …Well now I feel kind of bad.” Amelia sighed deeply, as empathetic and worried as ever. She was quick to jump from one anxiety to the next, as Ian had noticed in the three months they’d spent together. So, to hopefully comfort her some, despite finding the display the slightest bit comical, he took one hand from his coat and gave her a soft pat on the head.

“I’m sure he wouldn’t have stayed much longer anyway.” He tried to justify the inconvenience they’d caused the stranger to both himself and her, but as always, the people-pleasing Amelia was never so easy to convince. With a hefty groan, she leaned the full weight of her head on Ian’s shoulder, then continued to let out an odd array of noises, like muffled screams against his arm. …But it was those weird little quirks that made Ian like her so much, so it wasn’t such a turn off to hear her cry out like a dying whale in the middle of their local Karaoke Bar. It was cute, really, and a sign to everyone else at the bar that night that this was his dying whale.

“There, there, the bad man is gone now,” Ian joked, wrapping her in a tight embrace while swinging her gently from one side to the other. 

“Let’s get that Uber and take you home, alright? No more drinks or pancakes for you.”