knj imagines

late nights || a. webb

The bell above the door announced my arrival and the few people that were in the diner turned their attention towards me. I smiled and rushed to the booth in the back corner that I had claimed as mine.

For it being 4:00 in the morning there were more people than usual. There were two guys with long beards and bandanas who probably owned the motorcycles I had seen on my way in and another older gentleman who I assumed was the driver of the tractor trailer. There was a group of girls in the other corner who seemed to be nursing hangovers from their night out and another group of guys who were doing the same thing.

I glanced over the menu in front of me which was pointless because I would end up getting the same thing I always got. I was too distracted to realize there was a boy standing in front of me, his notepad and pen in hand, until he cleared his throat and caused me to jump.

"Sorry! I thought you had heard me but then you didn't say anything for awhile," he said, a wide smile on his face that made me smile too. "What can I get for you?"

"Oh gosh, I'm sorry. I was just lost in my thoughts I guess," I said, folding up my menu and holding it out to him. "I just want a coffee please."

He raised an eyebrow and hesitantly grabbed the menu from me. "Just a coffee? That's it?" I nodded and he put his pen and paper away. "Okay, I think I can handle that." He gave me a wink and turned away, making my heart flutter.

He came back with my coffee and to my surprise sat down in the bench opposite from me. When he saw my face he seemed to get a little self-conscious because he jumped up and scratched nervously at the back of his neck. "No, you can sit! I mean, unless you have to get back to work or something," I offered.

He looked relieved and sat back down. "It's 4:00 in the morning and I've been here since 8:00. There is no work to do," he said with a laugh. "I'm Anderson, by the way."

He held out his hand and I shook it with a smile. "(Y/N)," I replied.

"So," he started, sitting back and holding out his thumb and pointer finger on both hands, framing my face. "I'm going to guess you're a tortured writer and have come here hoping to have a big breakthrough in your upcoming novel?"

I laughed and poured creamer into my mug, stirring before replying. "Nope, try 'I'm a tortured girl suffering from insomnia and get bored laying in bed alone so this is a change of scenery for me.'"

"Fair enough," he said. "Do you always come here? I've been working nights for the past couple weeks and I know I would've remembered you."

I blushed slightly at his words and shook my head. "Not always. I like to switch it up. Have an air of mystery around myself, you know?"

He laughed and nodded, tapping his fingers on the table. "I'm kind of hungry. How about you?" I shook my head but he rolled his eyes before standing up. "Yeah right. Have any allergies?"

I raised my eyebrows at the question but shook my head and he gave me a thumbs-up before turning around and disappearing into the kitchen. When he returned he had a tray with pies and two forks, grinning happily at me.

"Are you planning on feeding a small army?" I laughed as he slid back into the booth and handed me my fork.

"I wanted you to have options! And you can't just pick one when it comes to these pies. Marge is the best," he said and pointed to one of the older workers who gave us a wave. "Okay, now where do we start first?"

"Well what do we have?" I propped my head on one hand as I watched Anderson point to all of the pies with a huge smile on his face. He had a really nice smile and I realized I was staring when he stopped talking and was looking to me to respond. "I say we start with cherry, you can never go wrong with cherry."

"Excellent choice (Y/N). I live by the same philosophy." He had forgotten to get us plates so we were sharing the same slice which would be romantic if we were on a date. I mean, it was still kind of romantic.

As we moved from cherry to blueberry to peach, which was by far the best, we were talking like we were best friends and I learned so much about him. He had an older brother and he hated cheese and he was single which I tried not to dwell on.

It was getting lighter outside and Marge had eventually come over, tapping Anderson on the shoulder and telling him that he needed to clock out. He nodded and I tried to hide my disappointment. "I'll go grab your receipt."

He walked to the register and printed it out quickly, dropping it on the table and walking to the back again with the now empty tray. I glanced at the total, shocked to see it was zero and looked at the note in loopy handwriting below it.

don't worry about it, it's on me. thanks for keeping me company. we should do it again sometime :)

He had put a phone number below that and I smiled, immediately putting it into my phone and texting him so he could save my number as well. I pulled my coat back on and walked to my car, laughing when I saw Anderson sitting in the car beside mine.

He was smiling down at his phone and I knocked on the window causing him to jump. He had been looking at my text and I had butterflies knowing he was smiling because of me. "Hey stranger," he said once he had rolled his window down.

"Thanks for paying. You really didn't have to but that just means that next time it'll be on me." I winked and waved goodbye, easily falling asleep once I got home. Pie does wonders for your soul. Or maybe it was the cute boy. It was probably both.
———————————————————————(a/n) - hello everyone! I hope you are all staying safe and sane during this scary time. my message box is always open if you need someone to talk to :)