Chasing Sugarplums [ Almond Cookie x Reader ] Human AU

12 || Love in Odd Places

You stare at the long list of missed calls from your bestfriend that you didn't answer the entire night. You just didn't know how to tell them what had happened. What would they think if you did? What would they say? Would they get away from you, now that a  fire crazed cult wanted you? Thinking that you  were a light beacon for danger, you told yourself you couldn't be with them. For now.

The coffee you made yourself  was already cold. You had little sleep, waking  in the middle of it just to fall back again. The paranoia kept you in this cycle, to such a point that you couldn't bring yourself to go back to sleep. That was at 4 am. Now, it was almost 8 am. You have been awake since, and all you have been doing was trying to do more research, while looking out your window erratically.

Your phone buzzes, which almost makes you jolt. You expected another defeated yet persisting text from your best friend.  But instead, you see his name on the notification tab. Almond had texted you. A swipe of your thumb was all it took to open the text.

'I found your address thanks to someone's help. I'm on my way, (Y/n).'

Shit.

You start to panic. You glance down at your clothes, not bad but unprofessional. You look around your kitchen, dirty plates from last night. You smell yourself. You didn't shower at all. You glance at the time, 8 am. Oh, of course he would be this early. You stand up from your couch, your sudden movement making it squeak horribly. You move to the mirror.

"He can't see me like this..." You murmur to yourself,  the scowl in your eyes reflecting back at you.

You didn't find the time to think of a reply. You gather the photos into a stack, and quickly gather the used utensils. You gently dump them into the sink. You guessed you didn't have time to actually bathe, so you rush into the bathroom to clean your face and then change clothes. You even combed your hair and fixed it. It struck you that you could pretend to not be home, but you didn't want Almond to seemingly worry more, or even think of tracking you down, especially with how he found out about your address.

Intuition tells you just who he got that information from.

You go back down to your kitchen and begin to wash the plates, pans, and silverware. You rinse them down, and as soon as you finished placing them in the dishwasher, you hear a firm but non- aggressive knock.

'That's him. ' you thought.

You look at the mirror once again. You weren't satisfied with how you looked. Tired eyes, fly away strands of hair. You managed a sigh, and walked towards the door. Another firm knock. Almond didn't seem to want to give it a rest.

You swing it open. It was indeed Almond behind it. Almond stands on your doorstep, graying brown hair combed back and neat, polo and pants free from wrinkles and his coat over his shoulder. He didn't have his chest holsters though. The strap was absent on his chest, you noticed.  Maybe he isn't here for work.

Your eyes meet.

"(Y/n), good morning." Almond managed. Your eyes travel down to what was in his hands. You recognize the logo printed onto the medium sized paper bag. 'of course', you thought to yourself, Pumpkin's Cafe. You were right. Pumpkin did give your address to him.

"D-Detective, I-"

"May I come in, (Y/n)?" He asks. There was a sliver of worry and gentleness in his voice and gaze.

"Yes," You muttered, "I'm sorry, it's a bit messy." You move from the doorway to let him enter.

His blue eyes naturally wander around the interior of the house. He notice the stacks of pictures on the coffee table, and the pad of notes with scribbled writing. Your writing. You've been investigating, Almond noticed. He didn't seem to comment on it though. Then, his eyes rest on you.