Chapter Text
Six strangers are at the bus station. Six completely different people, yet they have no idea they have something in common. They all enter the bus and it’s almost full, there are only six seats, as if destiny itself is inviting them to meet. Leeroy sits down first and puts on his headphones, from the front go Zoey and Riley, Zoey offers the window seat to the tattooed woman and they nod grateful with a small smile. Grant and Suzie go sit at the back, and Abigail is left to sit next to the boy with the headphones. The ride is silent, no one speaks, they’re just waiting patiently for their destinations. At some point Leeroy stretches his legs and kicks Riley’s seat.
Riley: “Hey, watch it dumbass.”
Leeroy: “Or else what~?”
He kicks the seat on purpose this time and they growl at him. Suzie notices the argument and gets up slightly to calm them down before things escalate any further.
Suzie: “Now now… Let’s all calm down.”
Leeroy: “It’s not your business lady”
Riley: “Oh my god can you shut the fuck up?”
The bus suddenly stopped abruptly and Riley to loose their balance and bump their shoulder on Zoey’s head, causing her to delete her new manga on her tablet.
Riley: “Shit I’m sorry.”
Zoey: “I-It’s okay…”
The driver gets up and goes out to check what was wrong.
Driver: “Sorry everybody, we have a flat tire.”
All the passengers get off and wait for the tire to be fixed, some leave to take a taxi, while some others decide to walk. But yet those six people stay and wait. Leeroy stares at Riley whom lit up a cigarette, they look oddly familiar but he can’t recall from where. He snaps his fingers and smirks when he finally remembers.
Riley: “What?”
They ask irritated.
Leeroy: “I know you.”
Riley: “What? No you don’t.”
Leeroy: “Yes I do, you’re that chick who opened that cool bar near the center!”
Riley exhales the smoke from their cigarette and feel surprised when he mentions their bar.
Riley: “Oh… Thanks.”
From the other side of the sidewalk Zoey sighs a bit disappointed, looking at her tablet. Concerned Suzie goes to her in case she’s hurt from the sudden stop.
Suzie: “Pardon me but… Are you okay?the stop was kind of sudden so I hope you didn’t hit anywhere.”
Zoey: “Huh? No no I’m okay I just… I deleted something important… I tried looking in the recycle bin but… It’s not there…”
Grant: “Excuse me ma’am?”
He approached with a kind friendly smile.
Grant: “I accidentally heard you talking and I think I might be able to help. I have my way with technology. May I?”
Zoey gives him the tablet deciding to trust the stranger, Riley watches them and feels a bit bad thinking it might be her fault that her file was deleted when she hit her on the head. She takes a drag from the cigarette and the smoke goes to Abigail making her cough.
Riley: “Sorry, does it bother you?”
Abigail: “Only a little… I’m not that good with smoking.”
Leeroy: “Pfft, weak.”
Abigail: “What?”
She blinks confused at his sudden irony.
Leeroy: “You look older and you haven’t smoked once in your entire life?”
Abigail: “… Noooo? Is there a problem?”
Riley sigh and flicks the ashes to the ground.
Riley: “Just ignore him. He’s been an ass the whole ride so there’s no point feeding into it.”
Abigail looks at him one last time and leans on a tree nearby. Meanwhile Grant was still occupied with Zoey’s tablet, and after a while he smiled and gave it back.
Grant: “There! Is that it?”
Zoey fixed her glasses and gasped when she saw her work restored.
Zoey: “Yes! How did you find it?”
Grant: “Hehe, like I said I have my way with technology. It is a part of my work.”
Zoey: “Oh thank you so much mr… Um…”
Grant: “Oh! Grant, Grant Bell.”
Zoey: “Zoey Raghavan.”
She responded politely and shook his hand, seeing that everything worked out Suzie offered a smile as well.
Suzie: “Um… I’m Suzie Ackerman, I’m glad everything worked out for you.”
They shook hands with her and Riley leaned a bit closer to check the character design in her manga.
Riley: “Hey, sick art.”
Zoey turned to face her and blushed at her comment.
Zoey: “Y-You like it?”
Riley: “Yeah, the characters look great, you have a steady hand.”
Zoey’s eyes sparkled with enthusiasm and curiosity when she said about her art style.
Zoey: “Are you an artist too?”
Riley: “Kinda, I used to be a tattoo artist at some point. You said your name is… Zoey right? I’m Riley Verselis.”
Zoey’s smile widened and shook her hand, with Suzie and Grant following suit to reintroduce themselves. Suzie looked at the group around her and chuckled.
Suzie: “Guess we’ll be here for a while. Might as well take advantage of this.”
Leeroy: “Nice thought there lady.”
Riley: “Oh so you’re an asshole with a name?”
Leeroy: “A proud asshole with a name~”
Abigail couldn’t help but giggle at his irony, she couldn’t explain it but there was something appealing about him. Leeroy caught her reaction and his smirk widened.
Leeroy: “See? This chick gets me.”
After some time the driver announced that the tire was changed so everyone got back inside to continue their journey. This time though the ride wasn’t silent at all, they were talking as if they knew each other, like long lost friends whom met each other again. Seriously there was no shame between them as they shared their lives, only laughter and nice comments.
Suzie: “You’re married? That’s so sweet!”
Grant chuckled a bit bashful but proud.
Grant: “Hehe, not to brag but I consider myself lucky. We also have two daughters, Anne and Sam.”
Abigail: “How old are they?”
Grant: “Sam is almost ten and Anne is fourteen.”
Suzie: “Aw they both sound adorable!”
Leeroy: “Yeah it must be very adorable having two brats around your feet every day.”
He added a bit bored with his arms crossed.
Riley: “Shut up Leeroy.”
Grant didn’t get offended at all though, in fact he smiled at the younger man and patted his shoulder.
Grant: “You’re just saying that because you’re still young. But when the time comes and you become a father you’ll see that it’s the greatest thing.”
Leeroy: "Pfft, yeah right.”
He scoffed and looked out the window, the last thing he wanted was to become a father… A father like… He shook the thought away quickly and turned to Abigail
Leeroy: “What about you Abby? You haven’t said anything about yourself, are you hiding some deadly secret~?”
Abigail: “If you’re so smart why don’t you tell us something about yourself instead of commenting on everyone else’s business?”
Leeroy: “Oh! I thought you’d never ask! I remember one time when I was still on the streets, I had to shit in a trash can.”
Riley groaned and rolled their eyes at him.
Riley: “Oh my fucking God…”
Suzie: “Umm… Maybe you should leave that story.”
Abigail: “I don’t have any crazy stories to tell… I’m just a supermarket accountant. The only thing I do for fun is to upload videos of myself going to abandoned buildings along with some of my friends.”
Zoey gasps and turns around to face her.
Zoey: You’re a YouTuber?”
Abigail: “Kinda… Yeah.”
She says a bit shy. The conversation goes on and on and eventually they exchange numbers, it’s almost strange how much those six different people get along. As the bus makes its rounds one by one they depart at their respective stops, until Abigail and Leeroy remain.
Abigail: “Sooo… How many stops you have left?”
Leeroy: “Four more.”
Abigail: “I have two.”
The silence between them is not awkward but Abigail is not a fan of it, she turns her head to the window and sees his reflection. How serious he looked, how his long black hair fall to his eyes almost covering them, he almost looked kinda…
Leeroy: “Enjoying the view~?”
He asks with a smirk and she gets flustered.
Abigail: “N-No! Shut up! I was just looking outside!
Leeroy: “Sure, whatever you say Abby~”
Abigail: “… You know. Your hair kinda suits you.”
Her compliment caught him off guard and just stares at her surprised. The bus pulls over at her stop and she stands up.
Abigail: “Well, it was nice meeting you. I hope we see each other soon.”
Leeroy: “Yeah… Bye.”
She waves at him one last time and gets off the bus. Leeroy puts on his headphones again while outside Abigail is walking, on her way to her apartment.
AbigailPOV: “Leeroy…”
LeeroyPOV: “Abigail…”
They both think at the same time and they smile with a faint blush colouring their cheeks.
AbigailPOV: “He seems nice.”
LeeroyPOV: “She seems nice.”