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You took a deep breath and looked at yourself in the mirror again. You sort of looked okay in the dark blue, off-the-shoulder crop top with a floral pattern and long sleeves.
Your friend hadn’t been lying when they’d said the shirt would show off your curves, but honestly you had a few too many of those and the shirt didn’t only highlight the good ones. The shorts your friend had paired with it were horrendously short. You couldn’t even believe you’d let her talk you into trying them on. The only reason you hadn’t stripped them off and put your own pants back on was because they weren’t so short that your buttcheeks were hanging out and you knew she’d just whine at you until you caved.
In the mirror, you saw a shadow move in front of the changing room door and figured you’d run out of time. Your friend was waiting and would undoubtedly start hollering at you soon, drawing unwanted attention before you even opened the door.
Before she could start, you opened the door and stepped out.
“Okay, I’m dressed. What do you think?” you asked as you turned in a quick circle to show off the angles. “Does it suit me?” You looked up to see your friend’s reaction.
Except that wasn’t your friend. The skeleton monster before you was tall, had been texting on his phone before you all but shoved yourself at him asking for an opinion. He stared at you for a second, and in those few seconds before he spoke, you glanced around to see that your friend was nowhere in sight.
The skeleton quietly tucked his phone into his dark hoodie pocket as his face bloomed with what you could only assume was a blush. Its color reminded you of autumn, changing leaves and sunsets alike in a similar red-orange hue.
“y-yeah,” he stammered, nodding slightly. “you look really, uh...pretty.”
You were damn certain your own face resembled a fire hydrant at the moment. You couldn’t decide if you wanted to go find your friend, go back into the stall and change, or just die on the spot.
Your hands flailed in front of you as you tried to speak. “I’m so sorry, I thought you were my friend.” You felt your eyes widen. “Not that you couldn’t be my friend! I have nothing against monsters. I just meant the friend I came here with, is all. They kind of talked me into this. I’m not sure how I feel about it all, the shorts especially, but—“ What he’d said suddenly registered to your panic-induced brain, and you shut your mouth to look up and meet his eye lights.
“You think I’m pretty?”
His blush grew a little darker as he nodded. “i hope you don’t take it the wrong way. it’s just, you asked how it looked and i guess i figured i’d give an honest opinion since you so bravely asked a complete stranger for input.”
You couldn’t help but smile, mostly embarrassed and maybe a tad maniacal, but also flattered. “Well, thank you.”
“if you’re not comfy in the shorts, maybe trade ‘em out for some longs, but i’d be lyin’ if i said that shirt wasn’t made for ya.” He glanced down at the floor and sucked in a breath. You could feel his discomfort and wondered if he could feel yours too.
However, your opinion of the shirt suddenly changed and you were absolutely buying it.
“Um, thanks,” you managed, twisting your fingers together. You desperately wanted to change, but you just knew your friend was going to just make you try it all on again if you did. “You haven’t seen a girl about my height with short brown hair and a tattoo on her right leg anywhere around here, have you? She’s my friend and I can’t change until she sees me.”
The monster shook his head. “no, but if you want i could take a pic so you could show ‘er. i mean, on your phone. i’m not a creep, i swear.” He shook his head at himself and swore under his breath. “that’s the kind of thing creeps say, you dumbass,” he chastised at himself.
You honestly couldn’t help but giggle a little. This guy was too cute.
“You’re fine. And I would actually really like it if you took my picture so I could show her. I don’t know where she’s wandered off to this time, but heaven knows when she’ll make it back. Hang on.” You turned and leaned into the dressing room to grab your phone off the seat. When you turned back, the monster was looking down again, his blush that had been fading back to a bright glow.
You handed him your phone and showed him how to work the camera. He nodded and you struck a pose. He smiled, that cute blush burning so prettily on his cheekbones. You expected him to just take the picture, but suddenly he dropped down to one knee and held up your phone.
“gotta get the right angle,” he said softly, adjusting the angle of the phone. “okay, now you gotta smile.”
You did, and he snapped a few pictures. Once he was finished, you turned around. “She’s gonna need to see the back.”
“uh...okay, yeah.”
Nothing happened for a second and you turned just enough to see him struggling to hold the phone properly. He glanced up at you for a quick second before clearing his throat.
“sorry, uh...my hands are shaking. i got this.” He held up the camera and took the picture before breathing out a huge sigh and standing back up. He handed the phone back as you turned around.
“Are you okay?” you asked.
He nodded, his hands fidgeting. “yeah, i’m good. you just, uh...you really do look nice.” He glanced away and shoved his hands in his hoodie pocket.
You took a second to look at the pictures. They turned out better than any picture you’d ever had taken before, even professionally. When you got to the one of your backside, you understood his fluster. The jean shorts were really short and tight and your ass was not small. You kind of wanted to burn the picture before anyone could see it. You felt a little bit terrible for making him take that picture. You wanted to apologize, but you also didn’t want him to be polite and say it wasn’t a big deal. Your finger hovered over the delete button as you debated; your friend could get over not seeing your curves—no, your rolls—in those shorts.
Before you could make up your mind, the monster cleared his throat.
“uh...i’m slim, by the way.” He held out a bony hand, and you smiled softly as you turned the phone screen off and introduced yourself, shaking his hand.
“Thank you for the pictures. They turned out really good. Are you a photographer or something?”
He smiled shyly. It was darn cute. “yeah, actually. i do a lot of freelance work for monsters. weddings, births, dust ceremonies, shit like that.” His sockets widened. “oh, sorry. stuff like that.”
You waved away his concern. “I’ve heard far worse, trust me.” You went to tuck your phone into your pocket when you realized you hadn’t changed yet. You should probably do that. You took a step backward. “I’m gonna change now. Are you...y’know, hanging around for a while?” You really didn’t want to say goodbye yet, but of course he had other things to do.
But he nodded. “yeah, i’m waitin’ for my bro. he’s supposed to meet me here when he gets off work.”
You nodded, relieved that he might still be there after you'd changed. “Okay.”
You slipped into the changing room and locked the door before sucking in a huge breath and letting it out slowly. As much as you wanted to squeal your delight, Slim was only right outside and would hear you. Instead, you stripped off the clothing and slipped into your own clothes, a comfortable pair of loose jeans and a light purple zippered hoodie over a white shirt. After you stepped into your shoes, you gathered the outfit and opened the door again. Slim was still right there, only now he was sitting on one of the benches for those waiting.
He glanced up at you and offered a wave before turning his attention back to his phone. You set the shorts in the return basket and held onto the shirt as you debated if you were going to try to sit next to Slim or use the other bench. You really wanted to sit next to him, but you didn’t want to bother him.
Just as you started over to test the waters of sitting next to him, your friend came rushing up from behind you.
“Oh my god, you will never guess what just happened!” she all but shouted at you, grabbing at your arm. She launched into an energetically loud description of meeting a hot guy and his friend and how she’d set up a double date for the both of you. The two guys, your friend, and you were all going to go to a movie and sit in the back row for make out purposes and then would probably go to one of their houses.
You couldn’t help but glance over at Slim, your stomach rolling painfully at even the thought of her idea. You didn’t want to go to a movie with strangers, especially not ones who thought you’d be up for making out, and you sure as hell didn’t want to go to anyone’s house.
Slim was watching you, a strange expression on his face. You swallowed, wondering what he was thinking. You had really wanted to work up the courage to get his number, maybe try to ask him to coffee without throwing up on his shoes. He likely would have declined, but that wasn’t the point.
“I’m not sure I’m up for that,” you said, turning back to face your friend. “You know that’s not—“
She interrupted you. “You’re too goody-two-shoes, you know that? You need to get out there and live life, experiment, and go wild!”
That wasn’t you. That was her. You could already feel yourself giving in, and you hated it more than anything in the world. You didn’t want to go, but even more than that, you didn’t want to fight with your friend.
“I just don’t feel comfortable—“
“Of course you don’t, sweetie, but you need to get out of your comfort zone every now and then, otherwise you’re going to be a shy little girl your whole life.”
And what was wrong with that?
Your whole body was shaking and too warm and you felt sick to your stomach. You couldn’t think of another argument, not one you could say out loud. You were going to have to do this. It was inevitable, and you really wished you could just sink into the earth. Instead, she grabbed your hand and tugged.
“So come on, they’re waiting. They’re really hot, too, I promise.”
It didn’t matter how hot they were, you didn’t want to go. You turned again to look at Slim, hoping to let him know with a glance that you were sorry for ditching him like this. You had no idea what his thoughts about you were, but you had enough hope that he wanted to talk to you a little more before you parted ways.
Your stomach plummeted when you saw his angry expression. This was not at all what you wanted. Oh, how you wished you could tear your hand away from your friend’s and explain to him that this wasn’t your choice.
Before you could get very far, Slim stood up and walked up to you, his strides long and purposeful. He wrapped an arm around your shoulders and stopped, holding tightly when your friend kept going, all but pulling your hand from hers when Slim kept you next to him.
“What—“ she turned around and stopped short. “What the hell? Who are you and what are you doing?”
You swallowed and tucked yourself more securely into Slim’s side, terrified to say anything lest your friend really start yelling. He was so tall you could almost tuck your head into his armpit.
“i couldn’t help but notice how uncomfortable your friend here is,” Slim said, gently rubbing your shoulder. “don’t seem like she wants to go.”
“Of course she wants to go; she’s just shy.”
Slim looked down at you, his other hand coming to your chin to urge you to look at him. You did, tears in your eyes over the scene you were undoubtedly causing.
“do you want to go with her?” he asked gently.
You tried to look at her, to judge her reaction, but Slim kept you looking at him.
“no, hun, look at me. i ain’t gonna judge ya either way, okay? just wanna know: do you want to go with your friend right now?”
You swallowed thickly and shook your head. “I really, really don’t,” you whispered.
He nodded. “you got a way home?”
Crap. You shook your head again.
“Come on, this is ridiculous!” Your friend moaned. “Let her go or I’m gonna have to call for security.”
Of course she’d do that. You closed your eyes and sniffled, your stomach knotting tighter and your whole body shaking against Slim’s side.
“why don’t you do that,” Slim said amicably. “not real sure how you’d benefit, but sounds like a great idea to me.”
You turned your head to bury your face into Slim’s hoodie. You were honestly scared of what would happen with your friend after this, but you were more afraid of what might happen if you went with her. You had no ability to stand up for yourself, you’d known that for years, and there was no doubt that she and the two guys she was going with were going to talk you into doing things you didn’t want to do.
“Oh, look at that,” your friend said delightedly. “I don’t even have to call for them, there’s someone right there.”
You squeezed your eyes shut as she hollered over to someone to get their attention.
“What’s going on here?” another voice asked sternly. You looked over to see a skeleton about your height in a uniform looking between the three of you. His name tag indicated his name was Razz. “Is everything okay?”
“No it’s not okay!” Your friend shouted. “This heathen is trying to kidnap my friend!”
The security guard raised a brow and looked up at Slim.
“hey,” he said with an amused lilt. “turns out this young lady is real uncomfy and don’t wanna go with her friend there,” he tightened his arm around you, “an’ you know me. couldn’t help but get myself involved.”
Razz sighed deeply and pinched at his nasal ridge.
“Of course she wants to go with me. Tell him you want to go with me! Those guys aren’t going to wait forever and I told them all about how hot you are. They’re excited to meet you.”
You shivered, something heavy rolling through your guts as you swallowed down a wave of nausea.
“Okay, stop.” Razz looked up at Slim and gently pulled you out of his grasp. You didn’t want to go, were terrified of what he was going to say, but Slim gently urged you closer.
Razz looked you dead in the eyes, his hands on your shoulders. You were still shaking, the shirt you intended to buy rumpled against your chest as you clung to it like a lifeline.
“Come with me for a moment,” he said softly, pulling you away from both your friend and Slim. When you were a decent ways away, he turned to you again. “Okay, tell me what’s going on. I have a feeling I know, but I’d like to hear it from you.”
You nodded and told him what your friend had planned and that you really didn’t want to go, too embarrassed to say that you were too weak to stand up for yourself. You just knew he was going to get upset about this, having been called over for such a stupid situation.
“It sounds to me like your friend isn’t actually your friend,” he said gently. “I can’t legally do anything other than call a family member or another friend to get you home. Is there someone you trust?”
There wasn’t, really. At least, no one that would be available at the moment.
Well, that wasn’t exactly true, now was it?
“I trust Slim. He’s the monster over there.”
The guard smiled. “Yes, I’m well aware of who he is.”
Your brow furrowed, but before you could say anything, he led you back over to your friends.
“Well?” Your friend demanded, her hands on her hips and fire in her eyes.
Razz smiled at her. “Well, it’s settled. You can go do whatever it is you wanted to do and my brother will see your friend home.”
His brother? What?
Slim’s arm wrapped around your shoulders again, and you felt something like safety wash over you.
“Excuse me?!” She shrieked.
“You cannot force her to do anything she doesn’t want to do, and deluding yourself into believing she wants to go doesn’t mean she actually does. Now, if you don’t leave her alone, I will have to file a grievance for harassment and causing a scene.”
“I’m not harassing her!”
“You are, but more importantly you’re disturbing other shoppers. Are you going to leave or am I going to have to escort you out?”
She looked truly angry for a moment before she huffed and turned to walk away. After about ten steps, she turned around and shouted back at you. “Yeah, well, it’s not like I wanted your fat ass with me anyway! There’s a reason I get more dick, and it’s because you—“
You blinked in shock as you sucked in a huge, startled breath. You were suddenly somewhere else, standing in a small office with screens and two other security guards, one of them a tall skeleton like Slim and the other a human.
“Hey, Slim,” the human said casually, as if just appearing out of nowhere was normal.
“What… how…”
Slim tilted your chin up to get you to look at him. “sorry. i usually ask first before i take anyone through a shortcut, but i didn’t think it was a good idea to make you listen to that. are you okay?”
You sniffled and nodded before pushing yourself into him, hugging him tightly around the ribs.
“Thank you,” you whispered.
He held you back with hesitant arms, and you told yourself to pull back, that he obviously didn’t want you this close now that you were out of danger. But then his arms squeezed you tightly and he dipped his head to nuzzle against the top of yours.
“you’re welcome,” he whispered back.
“She’s finally gone,” the human security guard mumbled. You pulled back from Slim to see the human and the other skeleton watching the monitors.
“Damn, that was one hell of a weird chick,” the human said. He glanced at you. “Sorry lady, but your friend’s a bag of crazy.”
You couldn’t help but snort. “Don’t I know it. And I’m pretty sure she’s not my friend anymore.”
Slim rubbed your back. “i’m sorry.”
You shrugged, trying to be brave. “It was probably a long time coming.” It certainly wasn’t the first time she’d talked you into doing things you were uncomfortable with, things that could have been dangerous, but this was the first time anyone else had stepped in to help you say no.
Razz came into the office then and breathed a sigh of relief. “For hell’s sake, Brother, you could have done that earlier and saved us all the trouble.”
Slim blushed a little and glanced at you. “i didn’t wanna freak ‘er out.”
You couldn’t help but smile. It had still freaked you out, but you knew what he meant. “I’m sure she would have raised a much bigger stink if you’d done that sooner, anyway,” you said, trying to reassure him.
The shorter skeleton nodded. “You’re probably right. Well, now that Edge is here, I can clock out and we can take her home.” He paused for a second, looking at Slim with a strange expression before he smiled. You weren’t sure that smile wasn’t supposed to be mischievous. “You’re also welcome to join us for lunch if you’d like,” he said looking right at you. “I’m sure Slim would enjoy it if you could come.”
You glanced up at him to see him giving his brother a hard glare. He looked at you and his expression softened, that adorable blush getting brighter.
“i, uh...it’d be kinda cool if you wanna come. you don’t have to, if you don’t want to. we could just take you home. it’s—“
“I am kind of hungry,” you admitted, feeling your own cheeks heat up.
“Okay, then it’s settled,” Razz said. “Let me clock out. Were you going to purchase that shirt?” he asked, gesturing to the shirt you still had now wadded in your hands.
“Um...no, not right now.” You peeked up at Slim again, and he nodded at you before taking the shirt from your hands. He tossed it at the human.
“The hell?” he shouted as it hit him in the head. “It’s not my job to put this shit away.”
Slim shrugged. “i don’t work here at all, so it’s more your job than mine. see ya ‘round.”
Before you could panic and take the shirt back to put it away yourself, Slim led you out of the room, chuckling softly to himself.
“don’t worry, i mess with those guys all the time. my bro’s worked here for ‘bout two years. they both know me better than they want to.”
You smiled, feeling a little better about leaving the shirt with them. “Thank you again.”
He nodded. “you’re more than welcome.”
Razz came out then and you all left. Lunch was great laughing with your new friends and exchanging glances with Slim. He was so sweet and intuitive, so cute with that blush.
By the time they took you home, you had almost worked up the courage to ask him for his phone number. He hadn’t asked for yours yet, but you told yourself he could just be nervous like you were. Razz parked in a stall at your apartment building and turned back to look at you in the backseat.
“It’s been a pleasure getting to know you,” he said with a smile. “It would be lovely if we could all get together again sometime. Should we exchange numbers?”
You couldn’t help but glance at Slim to see what he thought of the idea, only to meet his eye lights. Your cheeks heated as he blushed, too.
“Um...yeah, I think that would be cool,” you said, hoping Slim was okay with that.
Thankfully, he nodded. “yeah it would.”
So you all took out your phones and exchanged numbers. Slim then walked you up to your apartment.
“you gonna be okay?” he asked as you dug your keys out of your pocket.
You nodded. “I think so? I have to admit I’m a little worried about her getting payback or something.”
“yeah, me too. i know you probably have a lot of people who would come help you, but if you need like...i don’t know...i just mean i can teleport so i can be here real fast, and i…” he trailed off, his cheekbones burning brightly.
You couldn’t help but smile. “I’ll call you if I need you, Slim. Thank you. That means a lot to me.” You didn’t want to tell him that you really didn’t have a lot of people who would be willing to help you. A few, yes, and you were happy to add his name to that list.
He shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. “you’re welcome.”
You’d unlocked your door and could go in at any moment, but you found yourself unwilling. You didn’t want to say goodbye even though you were doing just that.
“You can call me, too,” you blurted. “I mean, if you want to. Or text me.”
He nodded. “okay.”
You both stood there staring at each other for a moment. You wanted to hug him, but were you allowed now that you were safe?
A car horn made you jump and Slim swore under his breath.
“my brother, ever the impatient dick.”
You laughed at that and smiled up at him. “I had a fun time with you guys today, Slim.”
“me, too. i’d better get back down there before he has an aneurysm. stay cool, yeah?”
You snorted. “I’m not cool, but okay.”
He pulled you into a hug then, and you happily wrapped your arms around him.
“you’re definitely cool. i only like cool people.”
You squeezed him tightly in acknowledgment and savored the hug for another second before he pulled back.
“Talk to you soon?”
He tucked his hands into his hoodie pocket as he stepped back. “i sure hope so.”
And then he was gone. You sighed to yourself and opened your door, slipping inside and locking it back up behind you.
As you went about the rest of your day, you smiled as thoughts of Slim crept up randomly. You couldn’t help but remember his blush, his soft voice, and how he’d stood up for you. His arms were so comforting when he held you, and his scent was...unique. An odd mix of herbal and spicy, you weren’t sure what it was other than Slim.
You were crushing hard, that much was obvious. No matter what happened, you were going to make sure that you didn’t lose touch with him or his brother.
“So, um...is this a date?” You finally managed to ask. You’d been dying to know all night long but too scared to ask.
You’d known each other now for four months. The night had started with Slim texting you, asking you what kind of movies were your favorites. It turned out you both really enjoyed thrillers and psychological dramas. There was a new movie playing, he said, and wanted to know if you’d like to join him. Of course, the movie was right around dinner time, so he asked if maybe you’d like to go to a local restaurant with him before so you didn’t starve for two hours.
You had agreed, and were surprised by how nice the restaurant was. Neither of you had dressed up, and you had a suspicion that Slim hadn’t told you where you going so you’d dress casual like him. That was fine.
The movie had been really good, better than it really had any right to be, and afterward Slim asked if you might want to get some ice cream with him.
So here you were, in a little ice cream parlor well after dark, making your way through a double fudge sundae. Slim had opted for caramel, and the two of you somehow managed to fumble your way through asking each other if you wanted a taste.
Slim’s cheekbones burned brightly, and you still couldn’t believe how damn cute that was. You wanted to kiss him.
He glanced at you and smiled shyly. “it’d be kinda cool if it was. i mean, it doesn’t have to be. but i think you’re really cool. i like you a lot. maybe we should hang out or something.”
You snorted. “We are hanging out, dork.” You leaned into his arm resting on the table. “But I think you’re really cool too and I like you a lot. Hanging out sounds great.”
His smile grew wider as he looked down at you. “cool.” He then pressed his teeth to your forehead. They were surprisingly warm despite the ice cream, and when he pulled back you looked up at him wondering if he would taste like the caramel sauce or the vanilla ice cream. Or maybe both.
“I’ve had a great time with you, Slim. This was a wonderful first date.”
“i’m glad you think so, cuz man, it was hard thinking of something that wouldn’t be too boring. i mean, dinner and a movie’s pretty boring, but not when it’s with you.”
He blushed again, and you couldn’t help but lean in to press a kiss to his cheekbone.
“you’re too sweet.”
He snorted. “glad to know i didn’t fudge up,” he said with a grin. “i’d tell myself to chill, but inside ice cream cuz you’re worth melting for.”
You giggled at his silly puns and leaned into him again.
In some strange way, you almost wanted to thank that ex-friend for talking you into trying on clothes you didn’t want to. If she hadn’t, you might never have met Slim, and that wasn’t a life you wanted to consider.