Chapter Text
Waiting for the bus was probably the most boring part of Leroy’s day, and since it was always timely, he couldn’t spare a minute getting to the stop after work. It was 5:28, approximately two minutes until it arrived. So far there were only two people waiting. Him and another man, maybe in his late forties, sitting on the bench. He despised packed rides, so that was a plus in his eyes.
A few seconds later, he saw a woman walking toward the stop. Then another. Then another. Just great. He’d never seen any of them before, despite living in a somewhat small town, but somehow he felt like he knew them. Maybe he’d delivered something to them while working. He payed no mind to it.
5:29. One last person walked up to the stop and leaned on the side of it in a similar manner to him. He swore he knew them as well. Almost in a déjà vu sense. It’d been a long day, maybe he was just going crazy.
The bus finally pulled up, the doors swinging open. He buried his hands further in his pockets and trudged up the steps. He walked toward his usual spot in the back of the bus. The another passengers boarded staying toward the front. Except one. The first girl to walked up took a spot directly next to him. Weird. She had the rest of the bus. After glaring at her, he pulled his phone from his pants pocket. He could feel her eyes burning a hole into his skin. It was starting to get a bit creepy. He still couldn’t get over the fact that he felt like he knew her.
He peered back at her to check if she was really staring at him. He was right. It was painfully obvious, her head was almost fully turned toward him. He couldn’t ignore it any longer.
“Do you need something?” he muttered, breaking the silence. She seemed surprised.
“No, I, uh, I’m sorry if that came off wrong, I just… I feel like I know you,” she faltered. She thought the same thing? He guessed they had met before. He slowly put his phone back in his pocket and stared at his feet.
“I thought the same thing,” he mumbled. Something like this was way out of his comfort zone. He had no idea if he actually knew this lady. She didn’t look like someone he’d associate with. He had a long sleeve button up with that was tucked into her pants. She’d obviously just come from work, but it still looked slightly ridiculous to him.
“Oh. Maybe we went to school together,” she suggested. That was a possibility. He tried to forget as much as possible from school, so he could’ve passed her in the hall without realizing it.
“Yeah.” It was horribly awkward. He had zero inclination to talk to her anymore. He just wanted to get to his apartment. He felt a buzz in his pocket, most likely from Leah.
“What school did you go to?” she asked. She was fiddling with a button on her shirt.
“University City. You?” he grumbled, pulling his phone back out to respond.
“Lindbergh. I guess we didn’t.” Huh. That’s odd. They could’ve worked together at one point. He tapped the text notification on his screen.
You getting home soon?
yeah
Is spaghetti good for dinner?
you already know my answer
Just wanted to make sure, cya
cya
He directed his attention back toward the brunette standing beside him. He was slightly interested now, considering what she’d just told him.
“You live around here?” he inquired, lifting his back from a pole. “I work at UPS, I might’ve delivered to you.”
“Yeah, like ten minutes from here. I’d probably have trouble remembering everyone I delivered to if I had your job.” she joked. “I can’t remember every mail carrier that’s been to my house.”
“Mhm. But if your stuff was ever broken, that was not me.”
She laughed and moved a little closer to me. “My name’s Abigail.”
“Leroy.”
He looked out the window. They were pretty close to his place. He thought for a minute, then went to the contacts app on his phone.
“Maybe this is a sign. Can I get your number?”
“God, already?”
“No, not in a flirty way! In a ‘hey, let’s keep in touch way.’”
“I know, I know,” she reached out and took his phone to type her name and number. “Here, let’s keep in touch.”
The bus came to screeching stop. This was his stop. He waved to Abigail.
“Later.”
“Bye.”
He reached in his pocket for some quarters, plopped them in the tray, and shuffled back down the stairs. He stopped for a second and looked back through the window. Abigail wasn’t paying attention, but he just stared at her. The bus then pulled away, leaving him to stare at an empty street.
That was really weird. He’d never had an interaction like that before. And he’d never gotten someone’s number that quickly. He shook his head. It was over now, he should’ve gotten going already.
He shuffled down the sidewalk, kicking a small pebble as he walked. He couldn’t get her off his mind. It was so strange. Like, dream level odd. Whatever. Just whatever. He couldn’t let this throw him off. He’d had a good couple months. He was on the street this summer. It was a miracle Sam let him stay at her place after everything that happened between them. It was an even bigger miracle that he was able to get a steady job. He promised her once he was able to pay rent he’d move out. Being a burden on her was one of his biggest fears right now. He couldn’t get wrapped up in something like this. He had to stay focused.
Once he reached the door of their complex, and fumbled for his keys and unlocked the door.
"Hey Lee," Leah waved. She was sprawled across the couch with a bowl of pasta in hand. "Your's is in the kitchen, but I swear to God, if you get any on the sofa,"
"Relax, ok? Have I ever done that?"
"You spilled soda on it just last week!"
"Touche."
He shut the door behind him and kicked off his dirty sneakers. As soon as he grabbed his bowl and fell onto the cushion, it felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders. Though he was only twenty-two, his back was already starting to feel the effects of hauling TVs and other assorted items to people's doorsteps. It was all gonna be worth it though.
"So, how was your day, Mr. Delivery Man?" she snickered, reaching for the remote. "Gave anyone some cool packages?"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Actually... something kinda strange happened."