Spotted
A/N: Thanks again for all your reviews and support! I've always seen the reviews on other stories recently and I appreciate them just as much. I love reading them.
"Are you kidding me?" Shiv walked out of her room a few hours later, finding Daryl sitting against the wall besides, watching some annoyingly loud on YouTube. She truly didn't think he'd have waited around this long.
"Well? How was Harry Potter?" Daryl looked up at her.
"Have you sat here the whole time?" Shiv asked, stepping out of the room and closing the door behind her as Daryl stood up.
"Not the whole time. I went for a walk. This place is nice." Daryl shrugged, "But answer me this… why is there so many people roaming around the campus? Shouldn't they be in classes?" He asked with confusion.
"Not everyone goes to every class." Shiv said, walking off for the stairs as Daryl followed behind.
"Do you go to every class?" He asked curiously.
"Yes, of course I do." Shiv said, "Today I didn't have any."
"So today was Harry Potter day?" Daryl nodded.
"What do you have against Harry Potter?" Shiv questioned, continuing to march down all the stairs whilst Daryl followed directly behind her.
"Nothing. I like him." Daryl shrugged, "Where are we going?" He asked excitedly.
"We are not going anywhere. I'm going to walk you to your car and you're going to leave." Shiv shook her head, exiting her dorm building as Daryl followed behind.
"I'm not leaving until you show me one cool thing about this place." Daryl said as Shiv huffed, turning around to face him and folding her arms.
"Why are you doing this?" She asked.
Given the freezing cold weather, she'd transitioned from her pyjamas to some thick sweats, a knitted jumper and a puffer jacket. Hat and scarf included.
"Doing what? Checking up on my friend?" Daryl asked, "Clearly, you're not yourself. You told me to stay in contact with you, and whenever I message you, you either don't reply, or you reply to me the next week at like… 4am." He said.
"Fine. I don't want to come home for Christmas because I'm scared that guy will be there somewhere. Lurking." Shiv nodded, "I'd rather be here. I feel safe here."
"With strangers?" Daryl asked.
"I have some friends, actually." Shiv said.
"Where are they?" He asked.
"Busy. Studying." Shiv narrowed her eyes at him.
"If you feel safe here then why does it look like you haven't left your room in a while." He said.
"Who made you psychologist?" Shiv questioned, "I didn't ask you to come here and start telling me off for not opening my drapes. You're not my mother." She scoffed.
"It's not just about that. You know what I'm getting at." He said, "Where were you even going? If you thought I wasn't there."
"If you must know, I've been going for hot chocolate every night. Makes me feel better." She said.
"Great. Which way do we go?" Daryl smiled to her as she glared at him.
"How did you cope without your right-hand man today?" AJ asked, sitting in Punk's coffee shop later in the evening, watching him clean up with Finn whilst she and her aunt Nico enjoyed some of the leftover raspberry brownies Finn had made for service.
"It was quiet." Punk nodded, "I'm just worried about the fact he's not back yet." He admitted.
"It's 6pm." AJ scoffed, "Maybe it's a sign she's enjoying his company."
"I seriously doubt that." Punk said, wiping down the surfaces behind the counter, "Shiv messaged your group chat?"
"Yeah, asking why we sent Daryl to check up on her." AJ said, "Then she said she would have preferred if we sent Mister Eckles. Which is a good sign that she's cracking jokes." She nodded.
"These two kids don't like each other? Daryl and Shiv?" Nico asked curiously. She knew AJ's close girlfriends, but she was still trying to adjust to the other names in the town.
"It's complicated." Punk said.
"How's the brownies, AJ?" Finn asked nervously, slinging a towel over his shoulder as he approached the table AJ and Nico were sitting at. Punk smiled as he watched the young boy nervously ask if the brownies were good enough for the baking queen of the town.
"They're delicious, Finn." AJ nodded to him seriously, "Seriously so tasty. Just a tip for next time, maybe take them out a couple of minutes earlier. They're great, but a little bit more gooeyness wouldn't hurt." She said as he nodded along.
"Ok." Finn nodded happily, "Thanks." He smiled.
"Phil tells me you're really getting into the cooking and baking." AJ nodded to him.
"Yeah, it's sucking me in." Finn said, "I enjoy practising at home. It's good putting stuff out that people enjoy."
"It is, right?" AJ smiled, "Hey, you're free to come over to my shop anytime to bake some stuff with me."
"Really?" Finn asked, "I've been trying hard to do choux pastry, but I just can't get it right."
"Yeah, of course. Come over anytime." AJ nodded, "Choux is super difficult but it's just about practising."
"Maybe when the shop is quiet here, I could come over for a couple hours." Finn nodded, "If my boss lets me, that is." He said, turning back to Punk who was wiping down the coffee machine.
"I'll have a word with him." AJ nodded to him as Finn smiled, heading off back into the kitchen to continue clearing up.
"All these kids are adorable." Nico shook her head with happiness, "So sweet."
"Yeah, Finn is a sweetheart." AJ smiled, "Hey, what's your plans for the Christmas Fair?" AJ asked Punk who joined them at the table with a coffee and a leftover cake for himself.
"Peppermint hot chocolate." Punk nodded, "Gingerbread men. Your famous Yule Log." He smiled to her.
"It will be famous, I'm telling you." AJ nodded, "You doing sandwiches?"
"Yeah, trying to think up a menu with the boys. Turkey sandwich is obviously going to be on the menu, but I'm stumped for other ideas." He admitted.
"You could do cheese and cranberry? Nice combination." Nico added, "You'd need a strong cheese, though."
"Lucky we got Mister Eckles, farmer and also cheese expert." Punk nodded, "That's a good idea." He pointed to Nico who pointed back teasingly.
"When is the Fair?" Nico asked curiously.
"The last weekend before Christmas." AJ said, "You don't need to help. You should enjoy the Fair. Relax. All you've done since you got here is work." She laughed a little.
"It's what I like." Nico shrugged, "And it means I get to spend time with you, mija. There's no other way I'd want to spend my time here." She insisted as Punk smiled to himself.
"You're not getting too fed up with Lyla yet?" AJ smiled a little.
"No, of course not. She's a joy to stay with. Although, she didn't come home a few nights ago." Nico smirked.
"Oh, really?" AJ smiled curiously, turning to Punk who raised his eyebrows with surprise.
"Don't tell her I told you. I don't want to get caught up in the middle." Nico waved her hand.
"I won't." AJ smiled, "But it's good. As long as she's happy." She nodded. She was glad her friend had been trying to move on from Lewis over the past few months. She knew she'd been on a few dates which she'd enjoyed.
"Speaking of my roommate." Nico said, "I think I'll call it a night. I'm sleepy."
"Yeah, me too." AJ agreed.
"Of course you are. Carrying those babies around with you." Nico said.
"Yeah, I have no idea how I'm going to be in a few months. Even more dramatic, probably." AJ nodded.
"You're allowed to be dramatic. You should milk it." Punk suggested.
"Oh, don't encourage me." AJ scoffed whilst Nico stood up and put her coat on.
"I'll walk you home." Punk told her.
"Oh, don't be silly. I can get home myself." Nico insisted.
"I'll sleep better if I walk you home." Punk told her.
"If you insist." Nico rolled her eyes whilst Punk grabbed his jacket.
"Goodnight, tia. See you tomorrow." AJ smiled, standing up and giving her a big hug as Nico hugged back tightly.
"Goodnight, baby. You and those little puddings sleep well." Nico nodded, patting AJ's stomach lovingly as AJ smiled.
She watched Punk lead her out of the coffee shop, smiling to herself when she watched her aunt link her arm around Punk's as he began walking her down the street.
She turned her attention back to her brownie which she was still devouring, enjoying the gooey delight whilst looking at her phone to see if Shiv had messaged any more to their group chat.
When she looked up from her phone and out the shop windows, she jumped a little, noticing someone standing across the road with their hood up, the dark night disguising his face.
It took her a moment to find her voice, but eventually she did, "Finn!" AJ yelled, standing up and rushing over behind the counter, running into the kitchen where Finn was drying his hands quickly.
"What? What's up?" Finn asked her worriedly.
"There's some guy across the street looking at the shop. With his hood up." AJ said, panic laced through her voice.
Finn quickly grabbed the baseball bat from the walk-in fridge, which AJ didn't bother questioning. He headed out of the kitchen and into the front of the shop, looking out the windows and turning back to AJ.
"There's no one there." Finn said.
"He was there a second ago." AJ looked out with confusion.
"You stay here. Lock up behind me." Finn said, "I'm going to have a look outside."
"No, you should stay here." AJ worried.
"It's alright. I won't go far. I just want to have a look down the street. See if I can see anybody." Finn assured her before disappearing out of the door.
"This your go to spot?" Daryl asked, sitting outside a late-night coffee shop with Shiv whilst they drank their hot chocolate.
"Yeah. But I normally just take it back to my room." Shiv shrugged, holding the cup of hot chocolate to keep her hands warm.
She would have preferred to sit inside, but all the seats were taken up, so they sat at one of the outside tables, watching people walking by, barely saying much.
"It's a nice campus." Daryl said awkwardly, trying to think of something to say.
"What are you doing?" Shiv turned to him, "We're really doing this? Small talk?" She questioned.
"You're not giving me much to work with, to be fair." Daryl said.
"I didn't ask you to come here." Shiv said.
"You've already said that. Nine times." Daryl nodded.
"I'm not a baby. I don't need checked up on. I told you, I don't want to come home for Christmas because I don't feel safe. There's your answer. Now you can go."
"Why are you being like this?" He asked, "We were good before you came back here. That dinner at Mister Eckles farm… we had fun. You said we should stay in touch. Next thing I know, you don't come home for Thanksgiving, and you stop replying to my messages." He said, "Forgive me if I'm a little curious about what's going on with you."
"It's just from the attack, ok? I just feel worried. All the time." Shiv shook her head, hating the fact she was opening up to him, but somehow it just came naturally.
"I'd say that's pretty normal, Shiv. It was a scary thing. Of course you're going to be worried." He said, turning around to face her a little better, "You should consider talking to someone. Doesn't have to be me. But it might make you feel a little better." He nodded as she looked at him, "Spending Christmas by yourself isn't the answer. You know it isn't." He shook his head as she took a sip of her hot chocolate.
"I got this email." Shiv said as Daryl turned to her, "When I came back here after I was attacked. It was from some weird email address that only had numbers in it."
"What did it say?" He asked, leaning his elbows on the table and looking across at her.
"It said, I'm sorry for what I did, it wasn't supposed to be you." Shiv said as Daryl looked at her with confusion.
"The hell does that even mean?" He asked, "You think it's from Craig? The guy who attacked you."
"Yeah. I mean, I told the sheriff that he looked spooked once he saw my face. He tackled me from behind and then once he saw my face, he ran off." Shiv said, "But I have no idea how he got me email or why he would even email me anyway."
"It wasn't supposed to be you?" Daryl questioned as Shiv nodded, "Then who was this sick bastard hoping to attack?" He shook his head.
"Someone who might look like me from behind?" Shiv asked, "Kinda short. Long dark hair?" She looked over at him with worry as he ran his hand through his hair and leaned back on the chair with tress.
"AJ?" Daryl figured.