Izzy sat in the café, watching as two eyelashes floated onto the table like feathers before she blew a small burst of wind, sweeping them away. Something about this store gave her the creeps. It was a beautiful café, and the view of the canal was spectacular, but ever since they sat down and Fitz ordered Mallowmelt, the wait staff seemed… odd. The few waiters and waitresses who worked at the café began staring at her like she had grown a second head. They never came near her, or even smiled, but when she met their gaze they would quickly turn away and whisper amongst themselves. If that wasn't weird enough, when a waitress came in, putting on her apron for what Izzy could only assume was the start of her shift, two others quickly ran over and began whispering to her. She listened in, hoping for some clue as to their odd reactions, but all she could make out was the waitresses name, Sophie. Odd, wasn't that the same name Fitz had accidentally called her earlier?

She glanced at the woman, her long rust brown hair falling past her shoulders, and dark blue eyes shining in contrast to her abnormally pale skin. They definitely didn't look alike, though it was probably a different Sophie, after all that name was extremely common. She didn't have much time to contemplate it though, because whatever the two had said to Sophie caused her to violently twirl around and stare. When their eyes met, she dropped the plate she had been holding and gasped.

As it shattered across the ground, her melodic voice chocked out"It's- could it really be- Her eyes-" She gasped. The whole room seemed to freeze, though it could have just been the embarrassment that made Izzy want to hide in a hole, or a rather dark corner. The waiter and waitress who had been talking to Sophie grabbed her and pulled her through the back door marked with large, bold white letters stating staff only. Not even a glance was given in Izzy's direction, let alone an explanation.

What did she mean 'could it be?' She frowned, pulling another loose eyelash out and flicking it to the ground. It's not like I can help having brown eyes either… She sighed, glancing at the people walking by the canal for a distraction. Where was Fitz anyway? He'd disappeared behind the back door nearly five minutes ago. She glanced at her phone, yep, five minutes. She'd give him three more before she left.

As her finger grazed the off button, an icon on her home screen tugged at her heart, a friendly, familiar smiling face, so alien to this strange café. Maria.

She clicked on it and let her thumb flitter across the keyboard. She had to talk to her, had to make sure things were ok.

Izzy: "Maria, are we ok?"

After rewriting it for the sixth time, she sat back and sighed. There was so much more she wanted to write, so much more she wanted to ask, but it didn't seem like the time, even if she could put it into words.

Not even three seconds passed before Maria's reply came back.

Maria: "Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't we be?"

Izzy bit her lip. She wasn't going to tell the truth was she?

Izzy: "Why don't you like Fitz? Was he a jerk to you or something? Did you guys go out?"

She subconsciously rubbed her scars as she tried to swallow down her heart. It was better just to ask. She needed to know the truth. It's not like she really knew him yet anyway, and the way this "date" was going so far, she might not ever. He had to actually be present for it to be successful.

It was nearly a minute of the dreaded three dots before Maria responded.

Maria: "No, I don't know him. He just seems too smooth, he's probably a player. I just don't want you to get hurt, you're my soul sister after all."

Izzy reread the message nearly five times, smiling. Good, so there was nothing wrong, everything was ok. She was just overthinking it. Of course she was. Her heart twisted slightly as the thought of him being a player, but it just didn't seem to fit. He was too nice, though she didn't know him. Could that be why they were looking at her so strangely? Maybe Sophie was his ex? She sighed, biting her lip. She hoped not. Either way, she would find out soon…

She reread the message two more times, trying to think of a way to respond.

"Sorry." Fitz's deep voice sounded from above, snapping her out of her thought. She quickly shoved her phone back in her pocket and looked up. "I hope you didn't wait too long. I wanted to make sure they were perfect since it's you're first time trying them." His blinding smile made her heart do cartwheels.

"Thanks." She smiled, covering her cheeks with a few strands of hair in an attempt to hide the blush. She glanced at the plate Fitz set in front of her. It was covered with a messy glop of, was it cake? It looked pretty strange, and even though she was pretty used to strange, gloppy food, she definitely didn't expect it in a higher end café, or really anywhere but at home. Maybe that's why it was so empty in here?

"It's better than it looks." He laughed slightly before glancing at the back door and running a hand through his hair a few times.

"I'm sure it is." She smiled, though it was slightly empty, her brain elsewhere. A waiter had opened the back door and she could barely hear the voices floating on the wind before the door slammed shut again. For some reason it seemed chaotic, a few panicked voices echoing in her mind even after they had disappeared. She stared at the Mallowmelt for a second, trying to work out a way to bring up Sophie. It was still bugging her. She acted like she knew her, in fact they all acted like they knew her…

"Is something wrong?" A bit too much concern filled his eyes, his brow furrowing.

She shifted in her seat, reaching for an itchy eyelash. "Well, that one waitress, Sophie, she seemed to know me. But, I'm not sure how."

For a second his face contorted slightly, but it disappeared so quickly Izzy was left wondering if she had just imagined it. "Umm, Sophie?" His voice caught on the name. "I don't think there's anyone here named Sophie…"

She bit her lip and glanced at the back door, her mind jumping to conclusions. She pushed it back, forcing the whirlwind into a dark corner of her brain where she could deal with it later. Her aunt was always lecturing her on being too curious, but it was too late to listen this time. Plus, this had to do with her too, right?

"I heard two of the waitstaff call the one waitress Sophie." When he didn't answer she quickly added, "She had long, reddish-brown hair, and dark blue eyes." She decided not to mention skinny, tall, gorgeous, looks like a model… hates brown eyes.

He glanced back at door before meeting her eyes and smiling, which took her off guard, even though it was rigid and tight.

"Oh yeah, that Sophie." He nonchalantly said as he leaned back in his chair, acting almost normal. "Sorry, the staff changes here a lot, it can be hard to keep track of names. I, think she said she knew your parents? She may have said she was a neighbor, I missed most of the conversation though." He shrugged nonchalantly, but his eyes seemed sharp, like he was trying to stare into her thoughts. Her heart did a flip, but not in a good way. It felt like she had eaten green slime with nails in it. She tugged at a loose eyelash and tried to pretend like it was no big deal.

"Oh, umm. Maybe? I, don't know…" She nervously rubbed her scars under the table, not wanting him to see them, not wanting anyone to see them. She really didn't need another reminder of her past, she was only just starting to pick up the pieces, though part of her wanted to run towards the woman, to beg her for every memory she possessed so she could relive them over and over until she somehow sunk back into that life. But that wasn't possible… They were gone.

"Isabelle? Did something happen?" A warm whisper slowly filled the air. She glanced at his eyes. Something told her he already knew…

She pulled out two itchy eyelashes and flicked them to the ground, refusing to look him in the eye as she braced herself. She didn't want to see the way he would react, the way they always reacted. Pity, suffocating, overwhelming amounts of pity. "Yeah, they died."

Her voice fell on the table like a block of ice that no one quite knew what to do with. She felt, unconnected to the sentence, like it had no effect on her, which of course brought back her guilt. She quickly took a large bite of Mallowmelt so she wouldn't have to talk, so that she couldn't ruin this would be date any more than she already had.

What am I thinking. If this was the titanic, I just introduced it to the iceberg...

There was no way to recover. On the brightside, the Mallowmelt was waaaay better than it looked. It melted in her mouth and tasted like ice cream, chocolate chip cookies, butterscotch, frosting, and marshmallows all mixed together in a beautifully gooey mess. It was by far the best thing she had ever had before in her life! It made her feel better, the warm, fluffiness replacing the icy sludge in her stomach like she had swallowed a tiny sun. She was so focused on it in fact that almost missed Fitz's reply.

"I'm sorry… That must have been… hard. If you don't mind me asking, how did it happened?"

She was going to take her time at first, to savor the mouthful as long as she wanted to avoid responding, but when he began speaking, his features distorted in a familiar way. She had seen the same look many times before, in the mirror. She was probably insane for telling a complete stranger her life story, but he might be one of the few people who actually understood her.

She swallowed the remnants of the gooey sweetness and fought the urge to pull out an eyelash. "I, um, car accident." She said quickly. "I don't have any memories from it though, so don't worry." Yep, this date was in a point of no return. She mentally face palmed as she went back to tracing the sharp edges of her marred arms.

The sound of the back door creaking slightly filled the air, but by the time she looked all she saw was a waiter's back disappearing behind it and Fitz nodding slightly.

He quickly turned back towards her, leaning forward and looking into her eyes. She tried to ignore how impossibly beautiful his eyes were, how much closer his face was to hers. Suddenly she felt like she had come across The Twilight Zone, because this definitely couldn't be happening, at least not to her.

"So," He started, "who do you live with then?"

"My aunt." She choked out before taking a small bite of Mallowmelt to distract herself. She savored the sweetness that somehow managed to make this conversation less awkward, and her brain a bit less mushy.

"That's good you get to stay with family. I guess you're close to your cousins then?"

"Uh," She spoke through a bite, letting the last bit melt before swallowing. "I don't have any cousins, it's just us. How about you?"

He nodded his head before leaning back in his chair and running his hand through his hair. "Not particularly. How about Maria? How did you meet her?"

Now that there was some distance between them, she could finally breathe. She took in a cool breath of air which helped calm her burning face, even if only a bit. "Umm, she's my childhood best friend, why?"

"No reason."

"So, how did you meet Maria?" Izzy asked as she tugged on a loose eyelash. Something was definitely off, but it wasn't just because he was asking about Maria. He seemed, rushed, like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. He was trying too hard to act normal.

She glanced around the café, following his eyes as he scanned the place. It was empty. Even the wait staff was gone. That was really weird. She bit her lip and watched as people walked back and forth past the windows and glass door. This was one of the busiest streets in Venice, and the food was amazing, so why was it so empty?

He shrugged, glancing at the back door again and running a hand through his hair a few times. "Umm, I don't remember."

She kept her gaze on him in an attempt to force him to give her a better answer. Not only did it seem like he was lying, but his voice was getting faster and faster with each question. What was going on?

"Mutual friend maybe?" he sighed, running a hand through his hair again. What was with that? "So, do you have any other family staying here?"

"Umm…" She pulled her phone out under the table, clicking it on and drawing a familiar pattern as it happily unlocked for her.

"Well, I have two uncles, but the one is usually away for business." She glanced down at her phone. "How about you?"

She pressed her thumb to the glass and pulled the screen down slightly until she found what she was looking for.

"No, I don't know him." Maria's text read.

She frowned, shoving her phone back in her pocket and running her fingers along her scars as she met his eyes. Something wasn't adding up. Plus, this did not feel like a date. It felt like an interrogation.

"So do you get to see your uncles often?" Fitz smiled as he responded, skipping her previous question.

"Umm, no. He's usually busy as well… So, I guess you don't get to see your uncles often either then?" Why was he shooting down everything she asked?

"Umm, a normal amount I guess."

She forced a frustrated sigh back as she gazed at the shimmering water, sparkles of refracted light dancing on the stone pathways. Why did he even ask her here? So far it was just question after question. She refused to respond first, but after a moment or two of silence, she glanced up. Following his gaze, she realized why.

She was rubbing her scars pretty quickly now due to the stress, but when she realized he was staring at them she instantly stopped. She crossed her arms over her stomach in an attempt to hide them, but it was too late. She could see his face, twisted in disgust, and it felt like a punch to the gut.

"How did you, get those-" he began to whisper, though his voice seemed more like a growl.

Izzy stood up, pushing her scars against her sides. "Did you just ask me to come here so you could interrogate me about my life?" She snapped, cutting him off.

Fitz shifted awkwardly in his seat. He seemed a bit stunned "Um, well what do you want to talk about?"

"Not any of this." She grabbed a napkin and wrapped up the remainder of her Mallowmelt. It was too good to throw out, and she would definitely need it after this.

"Thank you for the food, it was delicious. See you later." She quickly said, sounding more like a robot in auto drive as stuffed it in her pocket and began to turn around.

Something pulled her back, looking down she saw his hand on her arm, his fingers wrapped around the crunchy, sunken edges of her scars. All she felt was pressure, but it still sent chills up her spine. Not even Maria was allowed to touch her scars.

"Wait, not yet. I-I um, if you could just wait a few more minutes, I-um." he stuttered desperately.

"No thanks." she snapped as she ripped her arm out of his grip, her heart pounding in her ears. She had to get out of here. She practically ran out of the café, ignoring his voice pleading her to stop. She turned a few corners, wishing the shadows the evening sun cast would swallow her up, hide her from the people who walked by. Once she felt safe, she redirected her path to the nearest vaporetti. While she waited for it to come she rubbed the place he had touched her scars. The image of his face twisted in disgust was still frozen in her brain like a giant picture someone had slapped on the inside of her eyelids. No amount of thinking or attempting to push it away worked, so as she finally boarded the vaporetti, she let her hair fall in her face like a curtain as big, fat, hot tears began rolling down her cheeks. This day couldn't get any worse.