Still In Bloom ↠ Twilight ✓

21 ; how people can feel like home

Here's the thing: Wallace didn't know exactly what he was doing.

To be fair, this wasn't the first occurrence and he had on good logic that it wouldn't be the last either. However, that didn't stop the heavy breathing induced panic he was currently going through.

Which is why Wallace finds himself sitting in the middle of a cafe in town, hands wrapped securely around the mug of tea in front of himself. A mug of tea, which Wallace doesn't even know why he ordered since he hates tea as a beverage. Despite this, Wallace still keeps the drink securely in his hands, dark blue eyes staring into the yellowish abyss.

In his head, Edward's words ring. Like the echo of a bell. Wallace's temples aching from their severity and he wishes more than anything that he could stop picturing Edward's face as he had stepped into Wallace's space, so earnest in a way that couldn't be disproven. Which Wallace found was worse because his first tactic in escaping a problem was to poke holes into its sincerity so it'd be easier to ignore. Of course, the one problem that Wallace wanted to ignore the most, would the one that couldn't be faked.

A few feet away, a toddler is babbling to their mother. Whom of which was sitting in the booth seat behind Wallace and smells like cheap perfume. And for some stupid reason, Wallace tries to focus on her, but it distracted by the ringing of the bell of the cafe overhead.

Lifting his eyes, Wallace instantly feels his chest tighten once he takes in the appearance of Chief Swan. The older man dressed is in his uniform with a Carhart jacket slung over his shoulders and his black boots tracking in dirt onto the rug in front of the cafe's front door. Like he had sensed Wallace's eyes, Chief Swan's dark eyes connect with Wallace's and the man's eyebrows draw faintly together on his forehead.

Wallace hurriedly removes his gaze from the older man, fingers fiddling on the ceramic of the mug but no more than a few minutes later, Chief Swan is clearing his throat. Wallace lifts his gaze, looking at the older man and raising an eyebrow.

"Mind if I join you?" Chief Swan asks, motioning towards the empty booth seat in front of Wallace.

Wallace shakes his head, muttering a faint, "Not at all,"

Chief Swan slides into the booth after a moment, calloused hands clasped in front of himself at the table as he reaches for the menu that's at the other end of the table. The menu that Wallace had pretended to read before he had pointed towards the tea's and had asked the waitress for a random one.

"It's been a while since I last saw you," Chief Swan comments after a moment, eyes still reading over the menu that was propped up before him.

Wallace bites the corner of his lip before answering, "In your line of work, isn't that a good thing?"

This gathers a reaction from Chief Swan, whom of which lifts his eyes and there's a faint twinkle of amusement there. Wallace slowly feels his shoulders relax, but Chief Swan's next words make them rise right back up.

"I meant you and my daughter were fairly chummy," Chief Swan spoke, and there was a faint reddening to his cheeks. "Bella has been spending time with Alice, you remember her don't you? And I suppose I just haven't seen much of you around."

Wallace nods because he doesn't know what else to do. But then he states, "My probation is over,"

Chief Swan smiles whenever a waitress comes over and asks him if he wants some coffee. The Chief nodding his head and holding out the mug he was given as the waitress fills it nearly to the brim. Then once she leaves, Chief Swan takes a sip, his dark eyes still lining Wallace's face.

Placing his cup down onto the table, Chief Swan speaks, "I think we both know that you didn't just hang out with my daughter because you felt obligated,"