𝐖𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 ━ five hargreeves

3│A BAD DAY FOR DOUGHNUTS

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❛ ᴡᴀsᴛᴇʟᴀɴᴅs ᴏғ ᴛɪᴍᴇ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴀ ʙᴀᴅ ᴅᴀʏ
ғᴏʀ ᴅᴏᴜɢʜɴᴜᴛs ꒱


❝ ARE YOU CALLING
YOURSELF A SQUIRREL? ❞

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The pair pulled up to the familiar sixties-style diner a short time later. Before Dolores could even unbuckle her seatbelt, there was a flash of blue. Five reappeared outside her car door and opened it for her, helping the girl out after she freed herself. "Well, at least I know chivalry isn't dead," she teased him as they headed towards the building.

The boy rolled his eyes as he offered his arm to her, allowing her to hook her hand around it. "You know you love it."

He was right, of course. The romance-loving girl that was buried somewhere deep inside of her did love it, so she only teased him a little. As the boy held the door open for her, her mood sobered slightly. "You know it's going to get worse," she said to him quietly as they approached the bar.

Five's hand dropped down to catch her slightly sweaty one as he gave it a gentle squeeze of support. "And I'm going to be there for all of it," he reminded her, "we already know not to be in the Academy at night and you know your schedule well enough to avoid the store and school when you're there."

Dolores let her feet swing below her as she sat on stool as she answered, "but what about after we stop the apocalypse? I'm going to want to see my family again, at least once. We can't avoid the Academy at night forever—"

The boy squeezed her hand again. "We'll worry about one thing at a time, Dolly. At least we know what we have to do right now." He released her hand for a moment to ring the service bell on the counter before it returned to it's previous position. This time the gesture was accompanied by the traditional three squeezes. As he was returning the action, the door tinkled behind them and the brunette immediately twisted around to see who it was.

An older, balding man entered the shop and sat at the counter close to them, causing the brunette to give him a suspicious look and whisper quietly, "why's he sitting so close to us? The whole shop's empty."

In response, her husband gently tugged on her arm to turn her attention back to him. "Dol," he said patiently, though his voice was firm, "relax."

As she let out a breath in an effort to follow his advice, a woman wearing a pink uniform approached them from behind the counter. "Sorry, the sink was clogged. So, what'll it be?"

The older man spoke first. "Uh, I'll have a chocolate eclair."

"Sure," she replied, "can I get the kids glasses of milk or something?"

Dolores knew this wasn't going to end well as Five answered bluntly, "the kid wants coffee. Black."

She aimed three kicks under the table at his foot, prompting him to be nice. Her efforts resulted in the boy giving a large, fake smile to the waitress who seemed more uncomfortable than reassured. Rolling her eyes, she added, "I'll have water, please."

The older woman stared at them for a moment before she remarked: "cute kids."

The man next to them looked uncertain. "Uh, I s'pose."

"Okay," she said, trying to recover as she tucked away her notepad. The woman went off to complete their orders.

"Good thinking about the water," Five murmured to her so the other man wouldn't hear.