Nightcrawler (A Slimecicle FF)

THREE

So there he was once again, waiting outside of the alley like a creep. After his dream, he knew she was stuck in his head for a while. He had to see her again. 
   
He knew it was a stretch, considering she probably would never show up. She'd pick a different spot now that he knew where it was.
   
Charlie leaned against the brick wall, on his phone. He'd just stay a little bit longer. A few minutes, if that.
   
"You don't know when to quit, do you?" The sharp voice called out from the darkness, and his eyes snapped up. 
   
"I like to think I'm pretty stubborn," He responded softly, attempting to seem cool but failing miserably. He cleared his throat. "Uh, are you going to come out?"
   
She was quiet for a second, but she let out a breath. "I'm considering it."
   
"What would it take to convince you?"
   
"Why do you care?"
   
He frowned, pushing his glasses up as he thought about the question. Why did he care? Surely it wasn't just because she was attractive.
   
"I don't know," He admitted, looking down at his feet. He wondered if she could see him. He was standing in the light, so surely she had. 
   
"Alright," She stepped into the light, and her hood was already down. She had a tight, black leather jacket on with black skinny jeans, which had rips on the knees and thighs.
   
He tried not to smile when he saw her. "You're a lot less mysterious now. Of course, it'd be better if I could put your face to a name."
   
"You're wrong," She smirked. "Better for you, maybe, but not for me."
   
Charlie looked into her eyes, trying to decipher what she'd said to him.
   
He always saw himself as pretty short. Most of his friends were taller than him, but he was a good two or three inches taller than her.
   
"I'm Charlie," He tried, hoping out of instinct, she'd go to introduce herself as well. He held out a hand awkwardly, but she just stared down at it.
   
"You're interesting, I'll give you that," She crossed her arms, so he let his hand drop to his side. 
   
God, you're so awkward.
   
"Uh," He rubbed the back of his neck and turned away. "Can I walk you home, mystery girl?"
   
She shook her head, her smirk never leaving her face. "I am home."
   
Charlie narrowed his eyes. "You're homeless?"
   
"Nope," She uncrossed her arms and gestured around the streets and alleyways. "This whole city is my home. I come and go as I please."
   
"But, do you have a place to—"
   
"I have options, yes," She let her hands fall into her pockets. "I know some people."
   
He raised an eyebrow. "I figured you didn't have friends."
   
"Friends are overrated," She tilted her head at him. "I just have acquaintances. If that."
   
Charlie brought his gaze up to her eyes once again and went to say something, but she spoke again. 
   
"It was nice meeting you, Charlie, but it's time I met up with my not-friends."
   
Wow. Hearing her say his name gave him chills, and it was much different than his dream.
   
"So that's where you go every night? To meet your...not-friends?"
   
Her smirk faded slightly, and she shrugged. "You know what? I'll walk you home. If you agree to not ask questions."
   
His eyebrows jumped up at that. "Deal."
   
He may have said it too quickly, because her small smirk turned into a cocky grin at that. "Don't get any ideas. I may be smaller than you, but judging by how you act I reckon I could take you in a fight."
   
"Ouch," Charlie pushed himself away from the wall. "But fair enough. Let's go."
   
She nodded, but he noticed her eyes dart over to the alleyway, a longing look in them as she stared inside. Whatever was in there, she wanted to go in.
   
"What's so important about that alley?" Charlie blurted. "I mean, erm, you're there every night so I just assumed—"
   
"We had a deal, Glasses, remember?" She stepped forward so she was walking next to him. "No questions."
   
"Right, uh, sorry," He rubbed at his wrist nervously and glanced away. "You're not walking me to my apartment to kill me, are you?"
   
"Damn, you caught me," She looked over at him as his eyes widened, and she rolled her eyes. "I'm kidding. I'm walking with you because I've decided that you're alright."
   
Charlie smirked at that, but suppressed it quickly as he stood up straighter. She thought he was alright. 
   
A feeling of pride washed over him. Something he said or did made her trust him, enough to keep her hood down as they walked.
   
She sighed. "Christ's sake, don't let that go to your head."
   
"Too late," He chuckled, shoving his hands into his pockets and looking down at her. "I'm flattered."
   
"Well don't be," She shrugged. "I doubt we'll ever be seeing each other again."
   
His grin faded, and he bit the inside of his cheek. "Oh? And why’s that?"
   
She looked over at him. "You don't listen, do you? Friends are overrated."
   
"But acquaintances are fine," He countered. "We can be acquaintances, right?"
   
She smirked once again and shook her head. "That's a bit ambitious, don't you think?"
   
"It shouldn't have to be."
   
"Well I prefer it that way."
   
"Do you?" Charlie raised an eyebrow. 
   
"Wouldn't you like to know," She sighed. "For a nerdy guy, you really are stubborn."
   
"Thanks?"
   
She brushed her dark hair over her shoulder and looked away from him, and he wondered what was going on in her head. 
   
"You know," She breathed. "This is the closest I've had to a normal conversation with someone. It's…"
   
"...nice?"
   
"The word I was going for was 'different.'"
   
Charlie nodded, deciding not to say anything about it. It was a miracle he was even talking to her, and he didn't want to blow it with even more questions.
   
"So what do you do?" She asked after a few minutes. 
   
"Hm? What do you mean?"
   
"I mean, for a living. What do you do?"
   
"Oh, not much," He shrugged. "I'm a YouTuber. An influencer."
   
She bit her lip and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"
   
"Mhm," He looked down at her. "Though I take it you don't know what that means, do you?"
   
"I wasn't born under a rock. I know what YouTube is," She spat.
   
Charlie put his hands up defensively. "Okay, okay. Sorry."
   
"How far away is your place, anyway?" She glared at him before turning away. He made a mental note to watch what he said around her. She clearly got defensive very quickly. 
   
"I live just a block from here," He shrugged. "You can leave if you'd like, sorry for offending you."
   
She shook her head. "You didn't offend me. This is just how I am."
   
Charlie kept the dumb smile from forming on his face as he turned away. She didn't take the chance to leave like he thought she would.
   
"What about you?" He asked. "What do you do for a living?"
   
"What do you think I do?"
   
"I don't stereotype people," He responded. "So I'm not going to answer that. That's profiling."
   
"You did earlier," She smirked. "You said I didn't seem like I had friends. And you assumed I didn’t know anything about the internet."
   
Charlie frowned. She was right. "Oh. Sorry."
   
"Don't sweat it."
   
They were quiet for the rest of the way, and no matter how badly he wanted to say something to her, he couldn't think of anything. 
  
She even came up the elevator with him, walking him all the way to his apartment before once again flipping her hood over her head. 
   
"Will I see you again?" Charlie asked. 
   
"Maybe," She chuckled. "If you're looking hard enough."
   
"What can I call you?" He tried again. 
   
She let out another amused sigh and backed away from him. "Santana."
   
"Santana," He repeated softly, grinning once she turned away. What a pretty name. He called after her once she walked away. "I'll see you tomorrow."
   
"We'll see about that," She responded over her shoulder.

It's cringe leave me alonee haha I'm fine :)