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Chapter 18

!TW!~Implied sexual assault, implied violence, brief mild mentioning of gore, brief mentioning of cannibalism, stalking, implied attempted kidnapping, gaslighting

"Are you okay?!"

Alex jumped and looked behind him at Marina. She'd been talking to him and Shawn and he'd just completely zoned out.

"Y-yeah, why w-wouldn't I be?"

"You're stammering." Said Shawn.

"Not to mention how jumpy you've been all morning." Added Marina. 

Alex brushed some hair out of his face. He definitely hadn't been...on his game that morning. He'd woken up certain that someone had been touching him. His blanket was on the floor, his shirt pulled up a bit and his hair messed up. 

"I-I'm fine." 

"You don't seem fine." Said Marina.

Alex knew they were looking out for him, but it was still indescribably annoying. He didn't want to have to keep lying to them. 

"I am, I swear. Please, don't worry about me."

He heard the door open and he quickly looked back at it.

Erebus approached the counter, glancing over the menu. Alex had noticed that he looked a lot different in public places; he looked like a normal human whenever other people could see him, but when it was just him and Alex, his eyes were red and he was usually more filthy, clearly with a lot less care put into how he looked. He was probably his true form when it was just him and Alex, while he wore his "disguise" around other people.

"Hello." Said Erebus, smiling at Alex.

"Hey."

After scanning the menu for a moment, Erebus ordered a pumpkin spice latte. Alex had never liked those, they were too sweet for him, but basically everyone he knew loved them.

"Anything else?" Asked Alex.

"No, I think that'll be it. Thanks, beautiful." He caressed Alex's cheek a bit before walking away to find a seat. Shawn was in the back, but Marina had been watching them. She quickly walked over to Alex, looking a bit stressed.

"You know him and you were okay with that, right?" Whispered Marina. 

Alex nodded. He was dead certain that Marina would attack Erebus if she thought Alex was uncomfortable with the situation, despite her being half Erebus's height.

First, Marina looked relieved, then shocked. "Who is he?! Why don't I know about him?!"

"I need to make his drink." Said Alex, sighing and walking to the back. Marina started walking after him, but he glanced back at her and said "someone has to run the register. We might get customers."

"What's she so worked up about?" Asked Shawn, looking over his shoulder at Alex as Alex started working on Erebus's drink.

"She's not 'worked up', just surprised." Said Alex.

"Okay, but what about?"

"It really doesn't matter."

"If it actually didn't matter, you wouldn't have a problem with telling me. People only say it doesn't matter when it actually does."

Alex decided to ignore this. 

About five minutes later, the drink was ready. Alex left and walked over to Erebus, who was sitting at a table nearby.

"Thank you." Said Erebus, smiling and taking his drink. Alex smiled back.

"I hope you enjoy it." Alex turned to walk away but Erebus slid his hand around his wrist.