Don't Stand By Me (COMPLETE)

CHAPTER NINE

VIOLET

August 1st: 08:10

I was in the heart of the town, tossing pennies into the fountain, when it hit me that I may have acted rashly. But, in my defence, I had just been utterly betrayed by two people I loved more than anyone else. And of course, my boyfriend cheated on me. And of course the corpse in the trunk, who could forget that? It was really shaping up to be a shit week. My phone buzzed a few times and I pulled it out of my pocket to see a few texts from Fitz, which managed to bring a smile to my face.

August 1st, 08:10 - Fitz: that fountain looks familiar...

(ONE IMAGE ATTACHED)

It took me a moment longer than I cared to admit to process the photo he had sent me. The fountain I was currently standing at, tall and flowing with a petite blonde girl standing in front of it, her back to the camera. Me. I whirled around to see Fitz standing there with a grin, his arms folded.

"Fitz!" I beamed, "What are you doing here?"

I ran forward to envelop him in a hug, which he eagerly returned. We had been talking constantly since we exchanged numbers at that truck stop and it had been refreshing. He was witty, smart and full of conversation topics. He asked about me, he genuinely wanted to learn things about me, unlike Brent who used those topics to segue into talking about himself. It was one of the things I loved most about meeting new people, getting to unearth things about yourself that everyone else around you already knows, to refresh someone new on that intel.

"Passing through for work." He grinned when we broke apart, "Do you have time for breakfast?"

I nodded, feeling the familiar rumble in my stomach.

"There's a diner just a block away." He looped his arm through mine, "I don't know about you but I would love some pancakes."

"Definitely!" I grinned as we began walking.

Conversation with Fitz just felt...right. He made me laugh constantly and it just felt natural. Once we reached the diner, we slid into one of the booths and started peering through the menu. Once we ordered, Fitz propped his elbows on the table, resting his chin in his hands and fixing me with a smile. I couldn't help but blush at the attention, his eyes boring into mine as if I was the only other person in the room. His eyes were a deep hazel colour, almost black to match his unruly curls. His lips were plump, turned up in a smile that I soon realised I couldn't tear my gaze from.

"So, what does one wish to do with a criminology degree?"

His words snapped me out of my stupor, "I'm not sure yet." I shrugged, not wanting to get into the whole 'lawyer family business' aspect of it. I gave the waitress a friendly smile as she dropped off our drinks, "I was thinking maybe a PI but God my dream would be FBI for sure."

"Really?" Fitz took a sip of his drink and in that brief pause I felt as if I was sitting across from Brent, waiting for him to come out with something unintentionally scathing, "I could see that from you."

"Really?"

"Definitely!" He smiled, "You're smart, resourceful and want to help others. Plus you in that uniform...hot."

I flushed bright red, shaking my head and ducking down, avoiding eye contact, "Shut up."

"I'm serious! You shouldn't give up on things because you're afraid. I think you'd make like a badass agent."

"You should meet Kiara - my best friend - I have never seen someone so fit to be an FBI agent. It's wild. I don't think she'd ever do it, though."

"Why not?"