A/N: Hello, welcome to my third story! :) This was a story I kind of made up awhile ago when I heard a certain song... that I happened to download and put on my ipod, and heard it for the first time in Math class last year :D. It's called Love You to Death (obviously :P) by Kamelot. It's a really good song... so I suggest you check it out :P but, it might give away things to my story... so your call :P

Anyways, Happy Friday the 13th, and please read and review, that's all I ask of you!

-EFH

xoxo

Chapter 2: A Cup of Coffee.

"When they met, she was 15, like a black rose blooming wild…"

- - -

Thursday December 12, 1991.

The bell rattled on the glass door of Daily Grind, as Christine entered the tiny little coffee shop. The smell of roasted coffee beans, with a mix of freshly made cinnamon bums, wafted through the air, and her stomach growled.

The sound of Jingle Bells played through the little café, and only a few people sat in the remote place. A few business men sat at their own table, one or two truckers on stools at the counter, and a lone man in the back corner, reading a newspaper.

Christine smiled as she felt the cheery Christmas atmosphere around the little shop. It was her favourite time of year of course; the one time her parents got along and made attempts to have a real family festivity. Being an only child, her parents tried a bit harder.

She slung her backpack to the right of her shoulder, deciding what it was she wanted. Hot chocolate? Double Double? English Toffee? She had a sudden craving for Eggnog.

She had never been in there before, as it was her first day really living here in this town, after moving from her former home in Boston. She wasn't really sure why her parents wanted to move to nowhere Ville, Pennsylvania. It was basically a hick town compared to where she came from before.

Yes, she had gone to school for about two weeks, but it still felt really new to her. She attended North Warren Regional High School, and already hated it.

Christine knew she was a different person from most others, and she was ok with that. She had never really followed the crowd or had any real friends. She did get along really well with a pet fish, but it died a week or two later, and that was the end of that.

"Can I have just a double double?" Christine asked hesitantly, deciding to keep it simple. She took one look at the man serving her, and made the quick assumption, he wasn't the man who took to anything outside the realm of coffee and hot chocolate.

He looked at her and gave a nod. "Fifty-two cents."

Christine handed him the change and waited as he went to get her, her coffee. She cringed though, as the voices of two people hit her ears. "Oh my God, It's her." She looked around, not seeing anyone, till she spotted the two.

Near the door, were two of the girls she went to school with. Their names were Mandy and Andrea. They weren't necessarily popular, but they were definitely above her and the school's worst gossipers. Since the minute she had arrived at North Warren Regional, she had heard them pick apart her clothes, her hair, her family. She wasn't even sure how they knew about her family.

The blonde Mandy, seemed to be the prissiest of the two. Christine had heard rumours that her dad was having a torrid love affair with some woman from his work, and that was why she acted this way. Her current boyfriend was Mike Landsfry, the school's football captain. A handsome young athletic blonde as well. They were the school's hottest item.

Andrea was the brunette who was basically Mandy's sidekick. She followed Mandy like some sick dog. She really had no life outside Mandy's. Although apparently, she was a really sweet girl when she wasn't around Mandy.

Christine ignored their rapid whispers as she took the steaming cup of coffee, relieved to have something to do in front of them. She was just going to sit down and hope the two left. But they didn't.

"Whatcha doing Christine?" one of them said sarcastically, taking a step towards her. She smiled so falsely. She looked at Christine's drink and just smirked. "Not like you need the extra calories, don'tcha think?"

Andrea giggled. "It'll go straight to her hips!"

Mandy replied instantly, "like it already hasn't…"

"Look, she has nothing to say." Mandy stated, and Andrea made a whimpering noise.

"So there's a rumour going around that you considered being a cheerleader." Mandy pushed right up in front of Christine's face, her eyes meeting square on with Christine's. Christine immediately wanted to argue that she would never want to be such a thing, but Mandy spoke sharply first, "that isn't a position for you, maggot." she whispered sharply.

Christine said nothing, actually feeling speechless. She knew Mandy was a spoiled bitch, she had listened to her a few times before, but she never had come in contact with her vindictive side at all. She had always prided herself in being able to stand up for herself, but for once she felt completely frozen.

Her eyes darted from Mandy's around the coffee shop, and could see a bunch of eyes on her and the girl in front of her, even Andrea was standing off by the door, eyeing them.

Christine suddenly felt her anger flare as the look in Mandy's eyes practically burned her. "I wouldn't want to be another one of you!" and she shoved past Mandy, brushing her shoulder roughly.

Mandy seemed shocked by Christine's brazenness, but the bell jingled on the door as Mike came in. "Hey, why did you two want me to meet you in here?" he asked, looking at his girlfriend, who suddenly was all smiles.

She went up to him, "no reason." and kissed him on the lips.

Andrea piped in, "we better get to school Mandy, we don't want to be tardy for Barber's class; one more time and he threatened to call my folks."

Mandy smiled and flicked her blonde hair back. "Just a sec…" she looked over at Christine who was walking to the far end of the coffee shop with her mug. Christine turned and looked at her and Mandy called out pleasantly, "Oh Christine… I'll see you later in school… Maggot."

Christine glared as the two girls left laughing with Mike, who looked at Christine for a few seconds, before leaving. Christine felt so angered as the two bimbos and their puppet left, that she didn't even realize she felt air until the uncomfortable feel of the floor met her stomach.

She didn't need to look, her face was bright red, and she knew everyone in the little place was now officially looking at her. Well now I know a place I can eliminate from my list. She thought, almost ready to burst into tears, as she felt the sting of the hot coffee that had landed on her hand and splashed her face.

Two weeks in… two weeks in and she was ready to give up. She was ready to move again. She might as well resign now and cut out some holes in a paper bag and put it on her head.

Just when she was ready to push her lame self off the ground, a pair of warm, masculine hands were grabbing a hold of hers, and helping her up. She, for some reason expected it to be the man who had served her, her coffee… and now she was going to eternally own him on her second week here. She might as well take a terrible criminal picture of herself now, and spare him the trouble, and hang it up for him.

But when she looked up, her eyes met a face completely different… as in, completely out of this realm. He wore what appeared some kind of a white leather mask that only covered half his face. But that wasn't what she first noticed. No, it was the unique colour of green his eyes appeared to be… like an emerald of some sort. And his black hair, as dark as the midnight skies, that were smoothed back with some kind of gel. She almost wondered what they were like when in their natural state of grace. She felt dazed just looking at him, like this wasn't real.

"Are you alright?" he asked her quietly, as he set her on her feet and looked her over.

"I'm… I'm fine." she sounded so fake to her own ears. "T…thank you." she almost felt herself go red as she just stared at him, but remembered what to do; she gave him a huge smile. Her daddy always used to tell her that if she made an embarrassing mistake, to just smile; smiles fixed all problems.

The man said something, but it was too soft for Christine to hear.

Christine felt like she had to say something quickly, because all she had been doing was staring at the man's face and she was afraid of insulting him. "Can I buy you another coffee?"

He chuckled. "I think you're the one who needs another cup of coffee… but thank you." he stood back, after helping her up onto her feet and went to the counter. "Can I get another two coffees? One's double double, the other's just plain black."

Christine heard him and turned to him to protest. "No, please don't-" and then she slipped over the spilt coffee and fell again.

She felt frustrated and completely embarrassed now. This really wasn't her day. She quickly moved after him. "Sir, you don't have to buy me my coffee, I should be buying yours…."

He turned to her. "Don't call me Sir, makes me feel twenty years older." she thought he was serious for a second, till she saw the slight smile that played on his lips.

Christine smiled, feeling immensely relieved for some reason. She felt kind of enthralled with him; she assumed it was because of the mask. She felt like she was in a trance as she stared at him.

"Enjoy your coffee." he replied when she said nothing, just staring at him. He felt awkward, like some roadside show for her to gawk at. He moved to leave when she replied in the most softest voice he had ever heard. He almost hadn't heard her it was barely audible.

"Please stay and have coffee with me." such simple words. She smiled, "I'm Christine Winslow." she held out her free hand for him to shake it.

"Erik Defleur." he responded, shaking her hand. She was the new girl he had heard of moving into their quiet little town from a much bigger city. He had wondered what it would be like, but seeing the two nasty girls with her just now, he kind of figured it out.

He knew it was strange, but he felt kind of fascinated by her, despite there just meeting. She seemed… different. She was a gorgeous little thing he'd ever happened to see, but still different none the less.

Christine smiled. "It's nice to meet you Erik." taking a seat at the table at the back he previously sat at. "I just moved here actually… from Boston." she blushed.

Erik nodded, smiling. "Yes, I heard about you and your family. Your dad is a plumber, correct?"

Christine smiled, feeling surprised. It was unusual for a stranger to already know about her life. She guessed it was the whole small town thing in action, where everyone knew each other and every little piece of scandalous news. In her last city, nobody was close or knew anyone unless they were friends, family or work.

"What made him decide to move here? I'm assuming there wouldn't be anymore business here, there is over there?" Erik asked, sipping his coffee, just letting it cool down.

Christine watched him in amusement. He seemed to know a lot. "No, that isn't the reason. He wanted to move here because his brother, my uncle, lives here. Although business might not be too bad… especially if there isn't too many plumbers and shit happens." she giggled.

Erik actually laughed at that comment. He didn't know why, it wasn't necessarily funny… but he liked her, and she was funny in her own strange quirky kind of way.

He looked at his watch and his heart leapt. "It's five to eight-thirty. Aren't you going to be late for school?" he wished he hadn't said that, now she was going to leave and they'd probably never talk to each other. Maybe this hadn't been much of a conversation, but it was a lot to him. Most people in this small town avoided him like he was some form of a plague, and he knew why. There were the few that didn't seem to mind him.

"Oh crap!" Christine shot up. "Is it really?" she looked at her watch, ready to dash out of there. She grabbed her bag and threw it to the ground. Erik gave her a strange look, but she sat down. "Never mind that, I'll stay here with you." she honestly did not want to go to class tardy, and face Mandy and Andrea and the obnoxious comments and notes they'd pass her about why she was late, as well as the detention she'd face. She'd just have to catch up tomorrow.

Erik looked at her. "You strike me as a straight A student, why are skipping?" he was now drinking his coffee so fast; he wanted to make sure this wasn't some incredible dream and needed to be alert.

Christine sighed. She wasn't in the mood to make excuses. She wanted a friend to talk to and she had none. "Honestly… it's a long story."

Erik looked at his watch. "We have time. You now have the whole day."

Christine looked at him startled. "You'll actually spend the whole day with me? A young teenager you don't even know?"

"Well I don't actually have any friends, and company sounds surprisingly… pleasant and eventful for once in my pathetic life." he laughed at himself.

Christine smiled, drinking her coffee. "I actually have no friends either. Wow, we really are two pathetic people." she giggled now. "I usually spend my day reading or something. In my last home, I only had one best friend. I was really upset when I had to leave her."

Erik looked at her in surprise. "You only had one friend?" he just couldn't seem to fathom that. He took one look at her, and saw a beautiful young girl reaching woman hood. She had the perfect body that was tiny and had all the curves in all the right places. Her hair was a mass of chocolate curls that came halfway down her back and framed her extremely pale, heart shaped face. She had lips that were kissable and looked soft, a small little nose, and almond shaped eyes that were almost a violet colour. She was incredibly unique looking and he couldn't understand why anyone wouldn't like her. His only real guess was, girls were envious.

Christine blushed and Erik immediately loved it. "Yeah, I guess I'm just not that pretty or something…" Erik was about to interject, when Christine started talking. "Tell me about yourself Erik." she changed the topic; she didn't want to talk about herself.

Erik knew she had changed the subject, but he went along anyways. "Myself? I'm not that interesting of a person though…" he smiled.

Christine laughed. "Everyone has a story to tell. That's what life is; a story. Some are shorter than others, but it's still a story none the less."

"Interesting evaluation on life." he smiled. "Well, I am the town's embalmer. I work up on Stroudsburg."

Christine's eyes widened and looked at him in curiosity. "You're an embalmer?" the career had always been thought to be one of those jobs only sick and crazy people do. Or at least her parents thought so.

Erik laughed. "Think I'm crazy?" he finished drinking his coffee. "Just adds to my appeal… doesn't it?" he saw her amused expression. "Someone has to do it Christine. Dead bodies have to be dealt with one way or another."

She smiled and nodded. He was right, naturally. "I guess you just never meet people who do those kinds of things… it seems crazy when you do."

He liked her logic. She wasn't like everyone else; she didn't jump to conclusions and she seemed to be able to reason with things and understand them.

"So how old are you anyways?" he asked. He looked at her this whole time, and he couldn't seem to decide on an age she would possibly be. She appeared to be either sixteen or seventeen.

"Fifteen." she stated.

He felt his heart drop. She was only fifteen. She was much too young for him. He knew it was wrong to already be thinking of dating her, she would never like him like that. It almost seemed immorally wrong. She was probably one of those devout Christians who went to Church every Sunday, and preached and was dead set against all sin, along with the rest of her family.

"I'll be sixteen in the spring though." she smiled, like that was the answer to some big secret. "How old are you?"

"Twenty-six." too old, his mind secretly thought.

"That's not too old." she replied, taking a stirring straw and stirring her coffee for no reason. "Only about ten or eleven years older."

He liked how she acted so nonchalant about it. He wished everyone else would too. If people realized he was hanging around a fifteen year old, they would immediately assume the worst of him. Not like they didn't already.

Erik said no more about their age difference, he didn't like the topic at all. "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

She stared at him. "Please don't say grow up… makes me feel like I'm five again. I know I'm only fifteen, but I feel a lot older than I really am."

He gave his apology. He understood.

"I want to be a nurse." she stated. "I like taking care of people." she stated more to herself then him. "And I always wanted to wear a white nurse's uniform dress." she blushed.

Erik smiled. He liked the image of her in a white dress… a white dress soaking wet. He shook his head though, he was not going to do that to her, even if it was only in his mind. Christine was pure and innocent, and he planned to keep her that way.

"Do you have any family?" Christine asked him, noticing they had spent two hours talking already. It only felt like five minutes to her though.

She felt like she could tell him anything. He was strangely calming.

Erik frowned. "No." he'd been alone for seven long years. "I moved here when I was twelve with my father, but he passed away when I turned nineteen, from lung cancer. Right on the exact day of my birthday. I have no siblings I know of, and my mother left the second I was born and she took one look at me." his words came out spiteful and in hurt. His father had chosen to move here with his special son, in hopes that a quiet town would do him some good.

Christine just gave him a small smile. His life obviously hadn't been the happiest. "I'm an only child too. My mom had a lot of problems giving birth to me… and after that she wasn't able to conceive again."

Erik sensed a bit of sorrow and anger in those words, but he chose not to comment.

As the hours drew on, the two learnt a lot about each other. Christine discovered he was a talented pianist, and knew how to cook rather well. Also, that he lived by himself and personally decorated his own house. Erik learnt that Christine spoke Spanish and French fluently, could play the violin fairly well, and took singing lessons every Tuesday at four o'clock after school.

"Excuse me you two, but I'm closing the café down now." the man who had given them their coffee said, as he swept around the café. All the chairs had been lifted, except for his and Christine's.

Erik looked at his watch, and it was three minutes to six o'clock. He couldn't believe that he and Christine had stayed for that many hours, just talking.

"It's already six?" Christine gasped, looking at his watch as he held it up for her to view. "Wow, I totally forgot the time." she grabbed her backpack as her and Erik thanked the café owner, and made their way out, the bell on the door jingling as it shut behind them.

"Do you have to be home?" Erik asked, worried she'd be in trouble because of him.

Christine shook her head. "My curfew is nine on school nights. I know a really good field that's really secluded, that we could go to if you have no where to be…?"

Erik smiled and agreed.

She knew he liked to be alone as much as she did. She had happened upon this one magical Saturday when she was bored and wanted some peace from her parents who seemed to non-stop argue and fight.

Erik followed, wishing they could do this again tomorrow, but knowing he had to work, and she had school. So far she hadn't mentioned seeing or hanging with him outside of today, and he was terrified to bring it up. What if she said no?

They made it to the field. She was right; there was absolutely no one around. It was basically a little clearing by a river, in a forest near the power lines of the city. It was very dark out though, so he couldn't see everything as well as he would have liked, and he was weary of hobos coming around.

They sat down and they both gasped when they felt the contact of the dew on the night time grass, making them laugh. "I forgot that happens." Christine giggled, coughing.

They spent the rest of the time laying there, just chatting like old best friends or something towards that. Christine couldn't believe how unusually comfortable she felt around him. Someone she had just met, but felt like the only person who understood her.

Yes, it seemed crazy… but wasn't life about new things? Things out of the ordinary? And Erik was most definitely out of the ordinary. In fact, so was she, and so was this whole complete day.

She had played hooky. Hooky; something Christine had never done her whole life. Nor, spend it with a guy who was clearly eleven years older then her, and looked strange. If her parents saw him, they'd perhaps have a heart attack. They'd be asking things like, what if he is a rapist or a murderer? Was it unusual to know that he wasn't a rapist though? Was it strange for your heart to feel so comfortable and at ease around someone you did not even know?

Before she knew it, the hours passed by once more, and already it was quarter to nine. "Well, it's close to your curfew, we better get you home." Erik stated suddenly.

"Is it already nearly nine?" Christine asked, shocked. She sat up, looking at him through the darkness. Her eyes had adjusted of course, and she could see him getting up.

Erik nodded, and helped her up. "Yes, seems we kill time quite well." Erik smiled. He had, had a good time. He hadn't been so content around another person in a long time.

"It was really nice to meet you Erik Defleur." Christine shook his hand as they made their way out of there, towards her home.

"Likewise, Christine Winslow." Erik shook her offering hand back.

The two walked down the street side by side as snowflakes began to fall from the sky that eve, the two just talking once more. I guess it just happened to be… fate.