Heather

"Why did you bring a snack bag and cooler?" Kayne asks me as I sit down in the car and throw my cooler in the backseat. He dons denim jeans with a plain white t-shirt. He has a denim jacket to match, and I wonder for a second what I've gotten myself into.

"I brought some snacks." Kayne raises an eyebrow at me. "What? It's my first stakeout." I shrug my shoulders. "I wanted to be prepared." Kayne chuckles at me.

I buckle my seatbelt, and he shifts the car into gear.

"So, what else do you have in that snack bag?"

"Alice helped me pack it," I reply. "She said that no stakeout is complete without a goodie bag."

"I can only imagine what is in there, then."

"Fair warning, there are no potatoes."

"Damn," Kayne pauses, taking a moment to look into the goodie bag filled with Owyhee Candies. "You're really diving into living in Idaho, huh?"

"I can honestly tell you that I've never lived anywhere like it." Kayne and I both chuckle. "And I'm starting to understand the huckleberry obsession. They're great," I say.

"That they are," Kayne confirms, taking a package of Huckleberry Gems out of the goodie bag. He pops one piece into his mouth and offers me the other.

I savor the chocolate enveloping the berry-flavored marshmallow. I pull out the other bags of Idahoan candies that I've brought. They're eccentric to a California girl, but I understand why they're so popular. I offer Kayne a selection of Old Faithful bars—chocolate-covered peanut cluster with marshmallow—and Idaho Spud Bites containing marshmallow gooeyness covered in dark chocolate and coconut.

Kayne and I snack on the candy bars, tasting each, and ordering them by our preferences. Finally, I pull out a bag of Horehound Lumps, which came highly suggested by Alice.

"Alice says these are her favorites. Want to go on this trip with me, man?" I ask, holding one of the dark candies up to my lips. Kayne reaches in the bag to grab one of his own.

"Ugh. This candy is terrible. It tastes just like cough drops." Kayne spits it out.

I keep mine in my mouth, sucking on it. I insist, "Not half bad. It's curing the tickle in my throat." Kayne throws his head back, laughing easily.

"I'm done with candy for now," he declares. A subject change seems natural now.

"What is with your outfit? It's very early 2000s Justin Timberlake." I say snidely.

"Take that back. I'm not wearing a full denim suit; thank you very much." I just stare at Kayne, trying to justify his outfit to me. "It's two different shades of denim, anyways." I burst out laughing; his eyes signal defeat.

"I got a cool trucker hat, though," Kayne says, trying (and failing) to save himself in my eyes.

"Missed opportunity for a denim cowboy hat," I remark. Kayne just shakes his head, staring straight ahead at the people in the crosswalk.

"Is there a strategy to a stakeout? We don't seem to be very hidden, and you parallel parked horribly."

Kayne explains, "Well, we are taking a more active approach today. That's why I dressed normally." I clear my throat, and Kayne throws his hands up in playful frustration.

"So, this active approach..." I lead.

Keeping on track, Kayne explains what our plan is. We are going to hop in a bunch of different places under the guise of exploring since we are both new to the area.

"Doesn't this defeat the purpose of a stakeout? Shouldn't we be staying in the car? Or a hotel room to watch people on the street?"

"You seriously read too many crime novels."

"I found an exciting crime podcast recently. If we were staying in the car, we could listen to it.

"I think you're missing the point a bit," I say.

"Okay, then tell me the point."

"We are going to explore a bit. Some stores we will go in together, some we will not. We just need to make it seem normal that we're out and about. But we will be looking for suspicious people."

"Seems strange, but I trust you. You're the cop."

"Keep your voice down."

"Kayne, chill," I say, nervously scarfing down a few more pieces of candy.

I speak again first, "Hey, about the other night. Thanks a lot."

"No problem," Kayne replies.

I say my next words carefully. "He texted me on Thursday night."

Kayne stares out the windshield at the people crossing the street. "And?"

"Well, he told me he missed me," I say. "I asked him to leave me alone. I told him that I want to move on fully."

I turn to her, she's staring down in her lap, so I know he mustn't have taken that well.

"He didn't take it well?" I ask. She shakes her head in response, staring into her lap.

"Why haven't you blocked him before?" Heather stays silent. I decide not to push the issue further.

"Hey, it's okay if you want to go back home today. I can do the stakeout by myself." Heather looks up then, shaking her head.

"No, I want to do this. It's going to be fun." Her tone is insistent, although her expression is still a frown.

"Some policewoman you'll make one day. Stakeouts for fun," I say. Heather finally cracks a smile.

We step out onto the street, crossing the road to the strip mall. I give Heather a nod, and she walks in the opposite direction towards the little boutique at the end.

I step into the boutique, scanning the patrons' faces. They are too busy to notice me staring at them, although I'm inspecting all of their features to gain any clue. To blend in, I look through a rack of blouses.

Hey, Kayne didn't say I couldn't legitimately shop right now. It would be more believable to have shopping bags in my hands.

I sashay through the store, looking for suspicious patrons as well as interesting merchandise.

I take the commodities to the register and pull out my father's credit card.

"the clerk says as she hands me my bags.

As I walk out of the store, I catch Kayne standing outside of a shop with an ice cream cone.

"Really?" I mouth at him.

He gestures at my bags and mouths back, "Really?"

Touché.

I enter the next store, which just happens to be the local goods store. There's freshly baked bread as well as locally made soy candles, jewelry, and illustrated books about life in Idaho. I smell a few of the candles as a guise when I look around the store at people.

When I leave that store with my purchases, I almost speed past Qdoba, but I notice Fletcher and George inside.

It won't hurt to say hello.

I convince myself to go in. I stride up to the boys and tap on Fletcher's shoulder. He turns around, his face lighting up when he sees me. George bends to hug me, and Fletcher does the same, just a bit more awkwardly.

"So, were you coming to have lunch?"

"Actually, I just saw you two and wanted to say hello. I'm on a bit of a shopping spree. That boutique on the corner is precious."

"Well, you should have lunch with us," Fletcher offers.

I text Kayne to let him know that I'm taking a little break to grab lunch.

I order a burrito bowl with a side of chips and queso. The guys lead me to a table where we sit and eat.

"So, getting to explore the town some, huh?" George asks. I nod, having taken a big bite of food. "Well, my boy Fletcher here would be a great tour guide. He's born and raised here."

"Yeah, I would love to show you around, Heather." Although his voice is steady, Fletcher's eyes betray his uncertainty that I'll say yes.

I smile at Fletcher, fluttering my eyelids flirtily. "I would love that, Fletcher."

A grin spreads across his face. Although I'm sure they don't mean it to be visible, I notice they bump fists under the table. George gets up to use the restroom, leaving me alone with Fletcher.

"If you like that boutique at the end, you'll love the boutiques two towns over. I could take you tomorrow if you want."

"That sounds like a great time!" I reply.

"So it's a date, then," Fletcher says, his cheeks blushing.

I confirm, "It's a date." A cute, shy smile crosses his features. We eat the rest of our lunch with a comfortable conversation.

Outside the restaurant, George and Fletcher both give me hugs. I make sure to lift my chest more into Fletcher's chest, giving him something to think about until the next day. The astonishment in his face proves that I did. They walk off down the sidewalk, Fletcher only glancing back once.

A figure appears beside me.

"What was that about?" Kayne asks.

"Oh, nothing. Just ran into those two at Qdoba."

"Ah. Do you want some ice cream?"

"You've already had ice cream today, Kayne."

"I know, but it only got half of the taste of those atrocious Horehound Lumps out of my mouth. I'll treat you to some huckleberry ice cream."

"You know the way to my heart there." I joke. "Then we can compare notes."

"I have a feeling that you have more purchases than notes." I shoot a glare at Kayne, who leaves the subject alone and holds the door to the ice cream parlor open.

(A/N) Thanks for reading!

What do you think about a Heather/Fletcher ship versus a Kayne/Heather ship? Let me know in the comments!