Chapter Text
Too much had happened in the 8 months since he had left. He ended up in a town and he had gotten a job 6 months prior at a small diner he didn’t care for. Most days he had the morning shift at the diner. He got off around 12 those days, other days he worked the lunch rush and got off around 3 pm.
Riley Verselis, one of his coworkers, works in the kitchen with Suzie Ackerman. The two of them have been at the diner a lot longer than Leeroy himself. He was close friends with Riley but never close enough to hang out with them outside of work. Unless back then counted.
The teal clock on the wall showed the time
7:58
Leeroy grimaced at it. Only two more minutes till opening time. He slouched further on the counter. Elbows propped up and shoulders hunched. It was another day slaving away to a job.
It had been a while since he let himself think, the internet or work took up most of his day but at that moment he thought of his father and his absence. It stirred something in him, a knot that only twisted and shrunk in the bottom of his stomach.
A lot of it he put past him, or tried to put past him. He sighed, breathing in deeply afterwards. He was 14 or so when his father left. Didn’t even make it through all of high school. And when She-
Ugh
He scowled at the thought. The clock clicked announcing the time. 8:00 he adjusted his stupid half apron and put on a blank face.
His hopes were for the summer to be good for him. He wanted to get an apartment. Every morning he awoke with a stitch in his neck or an ache in his back, he was done sleeping at that hotel. He just wanted something better than the shallow life he was wallowing in.
"Ah ehm Smiley, why are you cleaning the counters? I just did that"
Leeroy asked. Suzie looked up at him surprised. He had obviously not cleaned them but he did want something to pick at to keep his mind from drifting.
"Well, I thought it could use a double cleaning...just to be safe." She squinted slightly at the dusky tables.
"Do you doubt my cleaning skills?"
"No! Of course not, I was just finishing up the place."
He nodded in agreement then paid his attention to something else. The clock.
8:05
He remembered his words to her. He had opened up too much and in return she-
The door bell rang pulling him out of his thoughts. The customer was an older man, early forties it seemed. He had rectangle glasses and bright blue eyes. He bore a soft smile that only the kindest man would have.
“Oh! Hello.”
The man said. He seemed to be startled.
“Hi. What can I get ‘cha?”
The man took a moment, then replied
“One dark coffee and a breakfast plate, but hold the eggs.”
He nodded, and told the man the price and that his food would be there shortly.The man took a seat in one of the red booths.
“Order for one breakfast plate and a dark coffee! No Eggs!”
Leeroy called to the person working in the back, while handing them the receipt
“Oh and Riley, you look horrible today.”
They glared at him. Then they turned back to the receipt and got to work. Leeroy walked his way back to the counter with a smirk across his face. A few minutes past, the man had gotten comfortable and Leeroy began to drum his fingers along the counter top.
The bell rang again and a girl with wide eyes entered the diner. She had short hair that was up in a low ponytail, and bangs hung across her forehead. The thing that stood out about her appearance was that she was wearing a bright blue and red jacket.
Why those colors?
She looked around until she found his eyes and then she proceeded to walk to the counter.
“Hi.”
She said, voice full of sweetness.
“Hello, what can I get you today?”
She hummed in response then placed an order.
“Uhmm can I have...a Cream of Wheat bowl with a side of blueberries.”
“That will be 8.23.”
She spent a moment rummaging through her purse then gave him a ten. He exchanged the change and handed her back the owed amount. Unlike the Old mad she sat herself at the diner's bar. Her eyes found the phone she was holding, and left her to play no attention to the waiter who took her order.
He himself was watching the ugly bird outside the diner's window. It was chirping a rather annoying tune for this time of day. Suzie was bringing the nice man his food and coffee. The man jumped again not expecting someone then thanked her for the food and drink.
The bird stopped chirping and flew away. The girl was still on her phone, only now she was biting her fingernail. She seemed calm and unaware of the nail biting.The bell in the kitchen announced another order was ready. He looked elsewhere.
"Can today go by any slower?"
Riley handed him the order and didn't comment. He took it then made his way to the girl. He sat the plate down in front of her. He then put the little bowl with blueberries on the counter. She looked up at him for a second then bore a warm smile. She sat her phone down and Leeroy turned away and back to the register.
The rest of his day went by in a slow manner, and once 12:00 hit Leeroy was rushing to check out and get to the home.
He walked through the automatic doors and entered the foray of the Hotel.
“Hey Caine, how’s business?”
The man at the front desk that Leeroy had known for over half a year beamed at his greeting. He was drawing bees in a sketch book.
“Same as always Leeroy! How are you on this fine day?”
He said with optimism.
“I’m okay. Work was slow. “
Caine nodded. Leeroy waved his goodbye then trotted to the elevator. Upon entering his room he knocked off his shoes and scrolled through the contacts on his phone.
Leeroy: Hey Doug wanna go bowling today?
Doug was a ‘read’ kind of guy and normally didn’t respond right away to Leeroy’s texts, and on days like today he was probably sleeping in. Leeroy showered and changed into clothes fit for going out. After what happened 5 months ago, Doug was the only person Leeroy had left and it was hard on the both of them. They still had fun every now and then. Bowling is a tradition nowadays. They did it at least twice a month to catch up and enjoy what little fun their lives had left. But in the last week or so they weren’t as close.
It was roughly 2pm when Leeroy made his way to Doug’s house. He knocked once. Nothing. He tried the door. Locked. Leeroy frowned, pulling the spare key Doug had given him a while back, out of his pocket he turned the key into the lock. It clicked and the door opened. The inside of his house was trashed, the paintings he had hung on his walls were broken, the words no exit were scribbled all over the place, paper stacked on the floor, furniture thrown. His eyes widened
“ Doug? Bubby you here?”
He stepped over the mess and made his way to the other part of the house. He went to Doug’s bedroom first. The door creaked as he opened it. The room was also messed up, things turned, books lay on the floor. A blue bowling ball was in front of Leeroy. He picked it up. His eyes traced the room. Doug was laying on the floor. A ring of dark liquid pulled around the back of his head and the item that did it sat not far from his hand.
Leeroy held the bowling ball tighter and then he ran. He jumped over the mess, shut the front door and fled to his car. He stopped there. One hand bracing himself on the window, the other holding the ball. He looked up at his reflection in the window. He breath was unsteady, tears welled up in his eyes
“You’re not looking too good.”
He choked back a sob.
“You gonna cry? Looking like this?”
He knew he was. So he did, grudgingly. But only for a small amount of time. He wasn’t supposed to cry. He should be stronger than that.