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talia woke up to the coldness of the bed, eli nowhere to be seen. strolling out of the bedroom, she walked downstairs to the kitchen to find a note on the counter.
'emma traded the early shift with me, she said something came up. i'll see you when your shift starts, there's your jeans, a spare grindhouse shirt and jacket in the bathroom for you. feel free to shower. we really need to get each other's numbers as well. see you soon. - eli'
talia smiled and grabbed a glass of water and made some toast, quickly eating it and going back upstairs to hop in the shower, hovering her left arm in the air so the wound wouldn't reopen. after she had a quick shower, she grabbed the spare pair of undergarments from her bag and put them on along with her clothes. as she put eli's spare work shirt on, she smiled brightly. his scent lingered on her, making her feel safe and secure. after searching around for hair dryer for 10 minutes, she finally found one and quickly blow dried her hair, shoving it into a plait and searched through the cupboards in the bathroom to find a spare toothbrush. when she found one, she ripped it open and quickly brushed her teeth. she grabbed her bag and made her way downstairs before leaving and walking to the grindhouse.
once she opened the door, her eyes widened as she noticed the amount of people that were there. quickly pushing through the crowds of people, she walked around the counter and to the back, shoving her belongings in the cloakroom and quickly tying the apron around her waist.
"thank god you're here, we've been swamped all morning." eli said, a tinge of humour in his voice. talia smiled as she emerged from the cloakroom, not feeling her usual self. eli gently pulled her elbow back into the cloakroom, looking at her intently. "what's wrong?" he asked, and talia sighed.
"last night, i just c-"
"you regret last night?" eli asked, hurt. talia frantically shook her head. "no, no, no! i don't regret it, not what happened between us. i just can't get the whole thing with the killer out of my head. i-i mean, i could have died last night and nobody would have known." she gasped out, her eyes full of tensefulness. eli grabbed her face between his hands, something that talia noticed he did when he was being serious a lot of the time. "it's okay, you're safe now. he can't get you, he won't strike in a place like this. it's too public and it's not part of the whole game he seems to be playing with you guys." he comforted her, as talia rested her hands over his. she slowly nodded her head and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before speaking again.
"it's just, he called me. right before he chased me down. and he told me to run. or i would have ended up like jake and i just can-" before she could finish, eli brought her into a tight, secure hug. she wrapped her arms around his waist as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, another resting on the back of her head and stroking her hair. talia let out a breath and closed her eyes, taking in the moment and eli's scent which made her instantly feel better.
"you're safe. i promise." he whispered in her ear and they both pulled back, still clutching each others hands. talia sent him a brave smile and nodded her head. "let's get to work. i think the girl who was working left already. we don't wanna get in trouble." talia said, and they both laughed before walking out of the cloakroom and to behind the counter. a couple of people were waiting and talia went over to them, taking their orders while eli was washing up cups, plates, cutlery etc. after talia had finished taking the girls' orders, a wannabe-jake-but-even-more-of-an-asshole walked up to the counter, making talia internally groan.
