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I’ve never been one for the cold. Always wrapping up warm the second the seasons change. Normally I wouldn’t wear something so revealing, despite the cold weather but tonight was Halloween.. And my ‘friends’ convinced me that this is what I should be doing with my Friday night. So there I was, walking through the streets in a slutty cheer outfit with a bunch of my drunk idiot mates stumbling alongside. I should’ve known. I should have known that they haven’t changed a bit. We took a turn down a street that I didn’t recognise at first, admittedly being a bit drunk myself. The girls kept on giggling at something and I thought I missed the joke. “Hey guys, what’s so funny?” I asked curiously, a twinge of anxiety hitting my stomach. “Oh it's nothing, Brad just texted me something cute, that’s all.” Fucking Brad. Emily’s douchebag boyfriend. I’ve had problems with him before, but that was in the past now. I shrugged off the laughter and focused my attention on trying to figure out where we were going. After a couple of drunken steps, I begin to notice my surroundings.. Are we in an alley near the park?Before I even had a moment to be suspicious, the flash of a phone camera beams in my direction, along with a dozen or so eggs. Emotions hit me just as hard as the projectiles, initially feeling confused but then that suddenly morphed into a mixture of disgust, misery and pain. “WHAT THE FUCK GUYS?!” I yell out to them in utter rage, only to be met with their incessant giggling. “I’m gonna kill you!” I screeched as I lunged forward to grab Katie, successfully knocking the phone out of her hand and onto the ground, breaking it in the process. We stare at each other for a moment before she lunges back, screaming something about her phone and her boyfriend. I raise my arms up defensively, trying to knock her off of me but Emily joins in, grabbing and pulling at my hair. The scuffle doesn’t last long as I manage to hold them off until attention is alerted nearby from the noise. Without a sound, a strange figure approaches and pulls the two girls off of me, giving me enough time to get up and run out of there. Who was that?With tears streaming down my face, I run as fast as my heels will allow me to the nearby park, collapsing on a bench from exhaustion. I run my fingers along my body, scanning over the various small cuts and marks left from the fight, along with the sticky slimy residue from the raw eggs and the tears in my clothes. I didn’t miss the joke.. I am the joke. I try wiping the tears from my eyes but they keep on coming, why won’t they stop? I feel like such an idiot for believing they’d changed. I slouch down on the bench, the cold metal bites at my skin, causing me to shiver. It’s just then that a familiar orange hoodie is tossed onto the bench next to me. I furrow my eyebrows momentarily before turning my head to see the person who threw it. What I saw was.. not expected. A tall skeleton wearing khaki shorts and a blank tank top that sits taught against his ribcage. He has a cigarette hanging loosely out of his mouth.
At first, the shadows make him seem intimidating and I quickly stand up, still staring in his direction.”relax, i ain’t here to hurt ya. just thought you might’ve wanted somethin’ to cover yourself up.” He seems to be averting his gaze slightly, from what you can tell. I look down at my skimpy cheerleader costume that’s now even more revealing due to the large tear across the chest. I feel my cheeks heat up slightly before grabbing the oversized hoodie and tossing over my smaller frame. It’s then that the figure steps forward and into the light. The first time I got a good look at his face. Rugged but strangely charming. I reluctantly sit back down on the bench, thankful for the hoodies warmth. “ Uh, thanks for the hoodie.. Were you the guy that helped me back there?” I stare up at him, waiting for a response. He lazily flops down on the bench, relighting his half gone out cigarette, obviously not planning on going anywhere anytime soon. “Uh.. yeah.” He rubs a hand on the back of his skull, almost bashful about his heroic gesture. “Thank you.. Those girls-” I cut myself off with a frustrated grunt. “don’t mention it. By the sounds of it, you’ve had trouble with them before, i’m guessin’.” He looks in my direction intently. “Yeah, I uhm.. Thought they were my friends but.. guess not.” A forced laugh suddenly blurts out of my mouth, “Hah, it’s pathetic. I shouldn’t have been so naive, they’ve done shit like this before after all..” Suddenly, my head begins to spin, probably from the strong feelings mixed with all the alcohol I had ingested.The strange skeleton stays quiet for a moment, watching my movements carefully as I continue, bringing my knees up inside the hoodie, like a ball. “S-Sorry. I don’t want to stretch it out on you.” As I begin to pull my legs out of the hoodie, he slides closer to me on the bench and gently stops me, chuckling “s’alright, i like my hoodies large anyways, much comfier.” Although I don’t know whether or not he’s being serious, I stay tucked away inside the hoodie, keeping my arms wrapped around my knees. His comment can’t help but make me smile along with his stupid wide grin. He shifts his body weight so he’s facing me more, I get a good look at his ‘eyes’ which look like small white fuzzy pinpricks. They’re mesmerizing, in an odd way. He catches my gaze and for a brief moment, his gaze softens. “like what you see?” he says while chuckling. My eyes widen and I immediately avert my gaze, punching him gently in the arm. “Shut up. I was just curious.” I mumble begrudgingly. He snorts “‘bout my eyes?”. “Well yeah, you’re a skeleton! That’s kind of.. new for me.” I admit. He calms himself and eventually his normal nonchalant tone is back, “i’m just teasin’ ya.”There’s a brief silence between us before he breaks it with a sigh, almost as if he’s reluctant to speak. “n hey, about those girls.. don’t worry, they won’t bother ya again.” I throw him a concerned look before he quickly throws his hands up defensively “i-i didn’t mean i hurt ‘em, no just.. scared ‘em off for ya.” It doesn’t do a whole lot to settle my nerves about this guy but I’m drunk, pissed off and I really don’t care a lot. I let out a long sigh before throwing my head back, letting it lazily hang on my shoulders. “Alright“. As I stare up at the sky, I suddenly realize something, “What’s your name anyways?”. I’m met with a long silence, eventually I whip my head to give him a confused stare. “you can call me stretch for now.” He says with a wink. For whatever reason, it flusters me slightly, “Is this because of the hoodie?” I say, half joking. To my surprise he nods, “sure, why not?”. I give him a look that’s a mixture between utter confusion and slight amusement. “ya gonna introduce yourself or leave me hangin?” he says nonchalantly.I feel my face heat up in embarrassment, “O-Oh, right. I’m Y/N.” He smiles and lazily raises his hand, to which I shake, albeit slightly reluctantly. I’m immediately thrown off by the warmth of his handshake. He notices my curious stare as I continue to shake his hand, lost in thought. “magic.” he smiles, “Huh?” It’s only then that I realize that I’ve been gripping the poor guy's hand for about 20 seconds now. I rip my hand away, nervously laughing off the tension. “S-Sorry about that.. What did you say?” I ask, toying with the strings on his hoodie. “magic.” He repeats, “it’s why m’hand feels warm. that’s what you were wonderin’, right?”. I tilt my head slightly and smile,”Yeah actually, I was. How’d you know?”. He chuckles lowly, as if I asked a silly question, “your face says it all, humans are easy to read.” Now that I think about it, he’s right. I stare at him stupidly for what seems like an eternity, taking in the details of his face and anatomy. It’s hard to tell just what he’s thinking behind those sockets..“c’mon, i’ll walk you home.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
That night when he walked me home, we exchanged phone numbers so I could return his hoodie to him as it was still covered in eggs and I wanted to wash it before giving it back to him. I still remember the smell.. The stench of freshly smoked Marijuana. Not that I mind, I like to indulge every now and again to alleviate some of the stresses of my daily life. I shake the thought from my mind and look down at the freshly washed hoodie in my hands. I reach for my phone on the countertop and scroll through the various different contacts before clicking on Stretch’s one. It rings out a couple of times before he eventually picks up, his voice sounding deep and groggy on the other end as he speaks “..’sup (Y/N)?”. “Oh! Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you, I just wanted to let you know that I’ve got your hoodie washed and I can drop it by your house if you’d like?” I say cheerfully. “know what? i’ll come by and pick it up m’self. n i’m kinda hungry too, ya feel like going for a bite?” he asks nonchalantly, like we’re not total strangers. I contemplate his offer. He is the man that saved me from further humiliation.. Or worse. Might as well throw him a bone. “Sure, why not. I’m not doing anything else right now anyways.” I say. He chuckles on the other end of the phone “glad i caught ya at a good time. i’ll swing ‘round and pick you up shortly. do you need long to get ready?” I stare down at my clothes, i’m currently dressed in old sweatpants, a messy bun and no makeup on. “Uhh..yes. Maybe give me 30 minutes?” I state awkwardly. “perfect. cya soon.” With that, he ends the call.I immediately get off the couch and make a b-line for my bedroom to get ready. I connect to my speaker and play my favourite music while I make myself look presentable to the world. As I dig through the closet for something nice to wear out, the sound of Stretch's husky morning voice replays in my mind. For some reason, it makes me smile. I shake my head, what am I thinking? I barely know the guy. I get back to the task at hand and begin rifling through the closet. I spot my v-lined, off the shoulder sweater and pull it off the hanger. I walk up to the window and check the weather, It seems mild enough outside so I decide to try the sweater with a pair of flairs and some suede boots. I check the time and gasp, how the fuck have ‘I spent 15 minutes picking an outfit..?’ I think and rush over and sit down at my vanity unit to begin applying my makeup and fixing my hair. I skipped a couple steps, mainly shit like bronzer and contour, since I didn’t think it was that needed for such a simple meetup. As I finish applying my mascara, I hear the buzzer to my apartment go off and I pop the wand back into its tube, staring at my final look in the mirror. I blow a kiss at myself, feeling confident as I head to the intercom, “Hey Stretch, I’ll be down now. Just gotta grab my jacket.” I chirp happily and walk over to the couch and grab his hoodie, putting it in a my handbag and a small crop jacket to complete the fit. “s’all cool, take your time.” I hear faintly from the intercom as I pass it by and lock the door to the apartment.Downstairs, I greet Stretch with a smile which he returns in an instant, albeit lazily.. or stoned. I can’t quite tell. We begin walking towards a small café near the park, since it’s early enough in the day, we decide to grab some lunch. The café is a quaint little thing with an outdoor seating area in the Summertime and some couches in the corner on the inside for longer stays. I used to go here all the time back when I was in School. It was a good spot to study when home got loud.. As I'm walking along with my thoughts, Stretch waves a hand in front of my face. "earth to Y/N. do ya know where exactly we're headed? you just started walkin'" he raises brow smugly as I shake myself out of my own head. "Oh, right.. Want to head to a Café? Something light to eat?". He nods, seemingly as though he didn't particularly care what I had stated. I look down at my hands and realise that I'm still carrying the canvas bag that I threw his hoodie into. I hold it up to him as we walk along. He grabs it and slings it over his shoulder, he's already wearing.. another orange hoodie? "Hold on a second" I pause, confused. "How many orange hoodies do you own?" I giggle. "enough." he says, short and concise. At the time, I didn't really question it.. I should've. Who has multiple of the same plain hoodie? Strange.We arrive at the Café, sit down and order our food. Stretch decides to order a cappuccino and a cheese toasty. Meanwhile I order a Caesar salad, a scone and a latte, not feeling too peckish. We chat intermittently as we wait for our food to arrive, our coffee's not being too long. I try to take a sip of my drink and the liquid burns my lip. I hiss in pain. "Fuck. That's hot." I say, pissed off. "have patience, the coffee's not goin' anywhere.. are you?" he raises a brow, his stare catching mine. "Uh, no.. Not unless you turn out to be a massive weirdo or something." I joke. That is until I think about it some more.. "You're not.. are you?" I ask, unsure of myself now. He finds amusement in my question and just chuckles loudly to himself. "that's not much of a tactic now, is it kid?" he says between laughs. I stare at him in confusion and mild amusement. He's got such a full chesty laugh. "What do you mean?" "well, ya don't ask a kidnapper if he's a kidnapper. he just.. kidnaps ya." He's got a point there. I relax my shoulders and forget the whole thing. He decides to switch the topic, sensing the slight awkwardness lingering. "so, um, ya from around here?" he says awkwardly. "Yeah actually, I grew up here all my life. Don't know any different. I've never seen you around here before, are you new or something?" I enquire. "well, it's not like yu're gonna know everybody in the city, ya know? i like to keep a low profile, probably why you've never seen me. i've lived here for about two years i think. around that." He scratches the back of his skull with uncertainty. "uh, i'm actually not *totally* sure." I smile to myself. How can you not know when you moved somewhere? I look him up and down, examining his demeanour more, wanting to understand this mysterious man some more."So.. Stretch. What's your real name? You didn't tell me the other night when I asked but I want to know you." I ask him with sincerity. He seems to understand that I don't want a bullshit or joke response so he simply smiles and readjusts his position, leaning forward to take my hand. I take his hand in mine and instead of shaking it, like I thought he would do.. he gently raises my hand to his teeth, representing a kiss and lets go, answering my question, finally. "the name's papyrus. nice to know ya." His voice is unusually soothing to the ear when he speaks. I gasp lightly, not expecting him to be so.. formal yet casual? I only get more enticed by him and I respond albeit late, as I ended up staring him down for a good 10 seconds. "U-Uh. Papyrus? That's actually a very fitting name for you. I like it." I can't help myself but to smile at that last part. He does seem genuine and caring, for someone so laid back and nonchalant presenting. He returns the smile, his cheekbones tinting ever so slightly orange, noticeable enough from where I'm sitting. "thanks." Before he gets a chance to say any more, a waitress approaches us with our food and I get excited. I'm enjoying a hot coffee in my favourite cafe with a new friend. It's a good day. I waste no time and tuck into my salad, Stretch doing the same with his grilled cheese. We sit in blissful silence enjoying our food for a bit until the conversation starts up again. This time I decide to ask him a question. "How old are you Papyrus?" The question had been playing on my mind since this morning. He continues to chew the food in his mouth and then swallows, it going.. god knows where.. "20. i go 21 this year tho. pretty sweet." he takes another bite of his sandwich. "what 'bout you?" he says with his mouth partly full. "I'm Y/A. We're not too far in age." "well done einstein." he cracks. I lean over and playfully slap his bony arm with the back of my hand. Only lightly. We spend the next couple of hours chatting, joking and getting to know each other.I found out that Stretch doesn't live too far from me, only a 10 minute walk, which for they city? Is pretty close. We decide it's about time to go and so we gather our things and I go up to the counter to pay for our meal. The lady behind the till waves a hand at me. "Oh don't worry about it. Your boyfriend paid off the tab already." She states, merrily. I stand there, briefly stunned at her words for more than one reason. Stretch paid the bill? When? I didn't see him? Then it clicks. "W-Wait no, uh.." I stutter but at this point she's already turned to start helping another customer so I leave it and head back to Stretch. I bite my lip discreetly. I wasn't totally thrown off when she called him my boyfriend.. Oh god. 'What does this mean?' I shake my head and scoff. 'Probably nothing.. right?' I think. Stretch hands me my things and it quickly pulls me back to reality. "ready to go?" he leans against the doorway of the café. "Did you pay the bill?" I know its a stupid question to ask him considering the woman behind the counter told me he did already. "what bill?" He winks at me and smiles. It flusters me a little, he's so slick. "Thank you. You didn't have to you know." "i know. nobody held me at gunpoint. i like ya n think yu're a pretty sweet gal is all." he tilts his head toward the door, gesturing that we should go. I play with my hair bashfully before nodding. "Yeah, let's head out. Where would you like to go?" I ask. He ponders thoughtfully to himself. There's so much to do in the city. He pulls out his phone and checks the time. 5:36pm. "i have an idea, c'mere." he mumbles and holds open the door for me to exit the building. I nod a polite thank you to him and step outside and he follows after me.He clears his throat and throws a hand on the back of his neck. "so uh, you got anywhere to be later on?" I smile at him "Nope! The schedules wide open till Sunday. It's not often I get an entire weekend off work. Why?" He looks nervous as he speaks "would you uh, wanna go get drinks w'me? like a date sorta thing?" I wonder where his charm went. All of a sudden it's like he forgot how to speak. You giggle at his meekness and his pupils dilate a little in surprise at your response. "Sure, I'd love to." I place my hand on the side of his arm, this touch expressing my interest in him. His typical nonchalant, laid back demeanour returns and he chuckles, "sweet. do you need anything before going out?". "Yeah. I have a spot you might like too and I want to dress right." I say excitedly to him. "i don't have to dress fancy for this thing, right? fancy's not really my style." he gestures to his current clothing. Orange hoodie, black basketball shorts and white trainers. "No, not at all. It's just your average club experience. I'm not really a fancy person either." I gesture back to my clothes and we share a laugh. "here, i know a shortcut to getcha home. take m'hand." he holds out his hand for me to take and I stare at him with uncertainty. "Shortcut? Which way? I should know the fastest route from here.." I trail off and start racking my brain for all the paths and shortcuts I know in this area. "nah. it's not a physical one so much as it is metaphorical." Stretch furrows his brow, unsure of if that makes sense. I do the same but take his still outstretched hand and trust him anyway. Before I know it, I blinked and I was at the entrance to my apartment block. Still holding Stretch's hand. My eyes widen dramatically and my mouth hangs open. "Holy shit. How the fuck did we get here?!" I exclaim, looking around. He chuckles loudly to himself, thinking my reaction is hilarious. He inhales and eventually calms himself. "magic." He tries stifle his laughter again and I glare at him feeling stupid for forgetting he's a magic fucking skeleton. He eventually let's out a snicker and it causes me to giggle in response. He gently squeezes my hand before letting go of it. "i'll pick ya up at 7. cya soon Y/N." He clicks his fingers and suddenly, he's gone. "Huh. He really is just.. magic."