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you were dreading the day you finally saw him in public.
you’d successfully avoided your stalker for years — nearly a decade — since you’d left school, but you both still lived in the same city (which sometimes felt like more of a village, where everyone knew everyone). you had to know it was bound to happen eventually.
it was as normal a day as any, running errands about town, when you spotted him across the street. the moment you realized who it was, your blood ran cold. your anxiety spiked, heart pounding as you tried to stay inconspicuous, turning to leg it in the opposite direction and praying he didn't notice you.
of course, you’d never be so lucky.
in the time it had taken you to process the situation and determine an escape route, he’d looked up from his phone, eyes locking on you in an instant.
a shuddering breath slips from your lips as you turn away to hide your face, as if there was some magical world in which he’d not immediately realized it was you. you break into a speedwalk, trying to get as far away as possible without making a scene.
from your peripheral, you see him beginning to trail after you. he’s not running, not catching anyone else’s attention, but you know he’s following you.
your heart rate surges as you increase your speed, turning the corner towards a more populated area where you’re hoping you can lose him in the crowd.
as you see him make a right onto the street you’re rushing down, his eyes burning into your back, your fight-or-flight kicks into overdrive. jerking your head around frantically looking for an out, you notice a big group of friends standing outside a nearby pub. one man in particular catches your eye: tall, dark curls, superhero-level buff, his deep northern elocution booming as he jokes with the lads around him. finally, you realize why he feels so familiar: it was alfie buttle.
the universe couldn’t have given you a better in with someone big enough to scare your predator off if it tried. blindly confident (for some reason) that he'd almost definitely help you, you book it in his direction.
coming to an abrupt stop at his side, you tap him on his broad shoulder.
turning to face you, he shoots you a cute little smile. “y’alright, girl?”
a weird breathless, panicked laugh escapes you as you stutter out a response. “h-hi, nice to meet you. big fan. s’bit of a weird one but I, um, I’m like, actively being followed. can you please pretend to know me for a minute just to scare him off?”
alfie’s brows raise in surprise, registering the nervous tone in your voice and tears starting to pool in your waterline. without question, he wraps his arm around your shoulders, pulling you closer to his side. his friends carry on their conversation around you, and you just pray you’re blending into their little cluster enough to stay hidden.
“th-thank you alfie. I’ll leave you alone in a minute, I promise.” you mutter anxiously as he eyes you with an unexpectedly sincere look of concern on his face.
“nah, I’m not lettin’ you go if you don’t feel safe out there on your own, girl. just breathe. I got you.”
you take a shaky, uneven breath, trying to regulate your racing heartbeat. “thank you,” you nod. “I appreciate that.”
“it's calm, darling. what kinda bloke would I be to not protect someone who needs it? a proper damsel in distress ting runs up to me, s’my time to shine, innit.”
you actually smile a little at that, your shoulders relaxing a fraction as you feel oddly comforted by the man you’d met all of 30 seconds ago. his mates yapped on, their bodies warming the air around you and their laughter loudly filling it, but you couldn't seem to take your eyes off of alfie.
“s’who’s after you?” he inquiries, his thumb absent-mindedly stroking your arm where he'd pulled you to his side.
“um, just this guy I went to school with,” you respond. “h-he’s stalked me on and off for a long time.”
“what, since school?!” alfie exclaims, eyes wide as he registers that it's probably been near a decade since then. “bro, that’s fuckin’ tapped.”
“yeah, it is.” you sigh, huffing out a small, tired laugh. “he was a bully when we were really young. just a classic, bulk-standard twat. to everyone, honestly. but then... y'know. puberty 'n that. it kinda... escalated with me, when we were teenagers."
alfie listens intently as you elaborate, something about him making you want to continue opening up: "I mean, there's no polite way to say it, really. I got tits, and he switched up his whole MO on me." alfie snorts at your blunt explanation, and you ramble onwards. "he kept being mean to me publicly in school, but then he'd suddenly be all over me in private via text, sexually harassing me, extorting me for... um," you cut yourself off, figuring alfie got the gist but not wanting to say the worst bits out loud.
"a-anyway, I’d pretty successfully avoided him for years before today. basically since we completed sixth form, aside from a few virtual encounters. I'm sure I'll start receiving messages from 'unknown' numbers again because of this.”
“fucking hell, that’s mad,” he replies, clearly a bit out of his depth but doing his best to reassure and comfort you. “I'm sorry."
you give him a small nod of appreciation, shrugging your shoulders.
"…do you um, do you live far?" he asks gently. "do you— would you feel safer if I, or I guess would you feel safe in general, if I walked you home?”
you’re taken aback by the exceedingly generous offer, his nervous tone only making him cuter. “I— no, no, that's sweet but I don’t want to pull you away from your mates,” you shake your head, looking up to face him. “I’ll be fine.”
he squeezes your arm gently, pressing you just a little more tightly into his side. “they can live without me for a bit,” he assures, voice low and warm. “d’rather make sure you’re safe 'n sound.”
your chest tightens at his kindness. you didn't expect him to be rude, but you were almost surprised by how undeniably lovely he was. you did want him to walk you home, and somehow, you knew you could trust him.
"thank you alfie," you nod softly, your eyes no doubt melting in real time as you look into his. "that would be great."
his sharp canines peak through the grin he can't hold back. "let's go."