With Me Tonight

chapter 4

*(Gus's point of view)*

I shut the bedroom door behind me quietly, not wanting to wake Veronica and get an earful about how early it is. I grabbed my phone and jacket, along with an apple and left the apartment with a yawn. I told Belle I'd take over today since she deserves to have a Friday off.

She had been oddly quiet this week, wrapped up in her own head, and I think it has something to do with that date she went on last weekend. I can tell that she likes this guy, whoever he is, and I can also tell that shes freaked the fuck out by it. Sometimes I just want to grab her by the shoulders and shake some sense into her, but Belle is just so damn stubborn sometimes.

I started my walk down the chilly streets, not bothering to stop by Starbucks because I was already running a little late.. It's hard to wake up and leave Veronica's warm arms in the morning...

I had nearly finished my apple when I saw the store start to appear in view and I just hope we had some carrots left over because I was still damn hungry, screw the stupid turtle. When I got closer to the store I noticed there was some guy leaning against the wall by the door, smoking while he looked into the street. I sighed as I made my way over, throwing my apple into the trash bin nearby. "Sup man." I said as I went to unlock the door. He gave me a nod as I put the key into the door. "You're Gus?" He asked, leaning so he was facing me. I was a little confused on how he knew who I was, but I meet a lot of people everyday at the store. "Yeah, you are?"

"Norman." He held out his hand and I gave it a shake, but studied his face, what the hell was Norman Reedus doing standing in front of our store?

"Yeah yeah, I know you. You're the redneck zombie killer."

He chuckled a little and rubbed his chin with his hand after we stopped shaking. "Yeah." He nodded.

"So what are you doing here?"

"I was actually looking for Belle." He said, shifting on his feet a little. Belle? What the hell?

"You know Belle?" I asked in disbelief. He nodded again. "As in Belle?" I pointed towards the store.

"Yeah. Went to dinner with her last weekend actually and haven't been able to get in touch with her since."

Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. This was the guy? Norman Reedus? She went on a date with him and forgot to mention the fact that he's fucking Norman Reedus? Her brother would freak... "So you're the guy that she's been desperately ignoring..?" I mumbled out and saw him frown, shit that was kind of low of me to say.

"Fuck man, sorry."

He nodded and put out his smoke. "Do you know why she's been ignoring me?" Fuck, Belle had this guy whipped already. I sighed and ran my hand through my hair, feeling the coolness of my engagement ring. I nodded and signaled him to follow me inside as I unlocked the door and opened it up.

"I told Belle to take today off, she's been on the verge of a panic attack all week." I said as I flipped the lights on and threw my jacket onto the stool behind the counter.

"Why's that?" He asked, looking around.

"Because of you, man. You're messing everything up in her head." I made a weird hand motion around my head as I talked. He frowned again and I realized he took that the wrong way. "I'm not saying thats a bad thing, she needs to get out of whatever funk shes stuck in." I sighed, not really knowing how to explain this. "Look, it's not my place to tell you all about her, but if you want to break through her stubborn shell, then you have to force yourself in. She's lost a lot and she's just afraid." I shrugged and leaned against the counter.