THE next morning found you over at Korn's house before heading into work. You had gotten your assignment done and wanted to see if he had heard from Ignis. Your stomach was in knots as you rode the elevator up.  And Mary had been the one to buzz you in. Apparently Korn was busy in his office.

I wonder if he's talking to Ignis?  You anxiously thought as nervously shifted your feet.

DING!

Your heart jump from the bell as the elevator stopped. You slightly laughed to yourself as you put your hand over your heart for a moment as the door opened up. Then you stepped out of the elevator and into the front foyer. And after taking off your shoes, you walked into the condo.

Your heart stared to race as you glanced around at the all to familiar surroundings. It had been the first time that you had been back in the condo since Ignis had left. You felt your heart almost stop as you heard someone in the kitchen. You glanced towards the door to see someone emerging. But instead of seeing Ignis, you were greeted by Mary as she came out carrying a tray with what looked like coffee for two.

"Good morning (y/n)." Mary said in her usually cheerful voice.

"Good morning." You replied as you felt your heart drop.

"Korn's in his office still." Mary said with a smile. "He should be almost done with his phone call."

Phone call. You thought as your heart leaped again. "Is he talking to Ignis?"

"I think so." Mary said with a slight smile.

You quickly turned and ran to Korn's office.

"But (y/n)...." She called after you as you dashed to Korn's office.

You quickly opened up the door to Korn's study and stepped inside. Korn looked up and gave you a stunned look as he sat back in his desk chair.

"Yes.....I understand....Keep up the good work." Korn said over the phone before he hung up.

You gasped at him as you stopped in your tracks as he hung up the phone.

"(Y/n)? Are you okay?"

You quickly closed your mouth as you felt your heart drop again.  You closed your eyes for a moment as you tried to keep your tears at bay from possibly missing Ignis' call.  "No. I mean yes. I mean....I just wanted to drop off my assignment."

"But it's not due until Monday." Korn said as you walked up and handed him your assignment.

"Yeah. I know." You replied as you dropped your head as you took a step back from his desk. "I was..."

"You were hoping to catch me talking to Ignis." He quietly echoed what was in your head.

You dropped your head even more.

"I understand how you feel. But I can only talk to him really early in the morning due to the time difference."

"I take it you did talk to him then."

"I did. This morning in fact."

You took a deep breath to try and stay calm before you spoke again. "Is...is he doing okay?"

"He is."

"I'm glad." You said as you choked your tears.

"Will you be talking to him again soon?" You asked in a shaky voice.

"Perhaps in a few days. Why do you ask?"

"I was just wondering."  You replied as you started to rub your hands together.

"Don't do this to yourself." Korn said in a concerned tone. "Don't torture yourself like this."

You shifted on your feet as you clasped your hands. Your knew he was right. But you just couldn't help it, as you rung your hands together again. You just couldn't help but to think about Ignis and worry about him. He was practically right outside of the empire's front door. Who wouldn't be nervous.

"I don't have your next assignment ready just yet. Can you come back on Sunday to get it?"

"I'll be at the citadel that morning. So yeah. I can swing by and grab it."

Korn raised an eyebrow.  "Why will you be at the citadel on a Sunday?" 

You slightly smiled as you shifted your feet again, grateful for a change in topic. "I'm meeting up with the guys for a car wash."

"Really?" Korn said with a curious look. "What kind of car wash? Is it for a fundraiser or something?"

"Not quite." You replied as you cocked your head to the side. "It's more like from a challenge."

"You don't say." Korn replied with a slight smile. "What kind of challenge?"

"It was a silly dance off. The loser has to wash the other's cars."

"So whose cars will be getting washed?"

"Tracy's and my dad's." You said with a slight smile.

"And who will be washing them?"

"Noctis, Gladio and Prompto."

Korn couldn't help but to raise an eyebrow at you. "You beat all of them?"

You couldn't help but to smile back. "Yes sir."

Korn immediately started to chuckle out loud.

"That's a sound I haven't heard in a while." Mary said as she walked in with a tray of hot coffee, eggs and toast for two.

"No, I suppose not." Korn said as he sat back and beamed at Mary as she walked over to the coffee table. "(Y/n) was just informing me about a little challenge between her and Prince Noctis and his friends."

"Really?" Mary asked as she gave you a curious look as she sat the tray down. "I would love to hear about it."

"Perhaps over breakfast." Korn returned when he watched you shift your feet.

You slightly dropped your head as you got uncomfortable again. "I should be going. I have to get to work."

"Okay." Korn said as he stood up. "And don't worry about stopping by here on Sunday. I'll bring your assignment to the Citadel myself."

"Oh." You said as you quickly looked up at him. "Thank you. I really appreciate that."

"And is there anything you would like me to tell Ignis when I talk to him next?"

You felt your heart leap at the mention of his name. Then you slowly looked up at him as you fought back the tears.

"Just that I love him." You said before your to throat started to hurt.

"Is that all?" Korn asked as he watched you carefully.

But all you could do was nod your head as your throat tightened up.

"Okay." Korn quietly replied. "I'll let him know."

"Thanks." You whispered as you chocked back a cry.

Then you dropped your gaze and walked away and exited the room. There just wasn't anything else that you could say after that. Not that you could actually put into words anyway. Which at the moment was impossible, since your throat was now completely swollen shut. And it stayed like that, long after you left the condo and rode the elevator down to the parking garage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~~~~

You don't recall driving to work, or even setting up the cafe for the morning rush. And you might have missed the whole morning if it hadn't been for a certain blonde standing by the front door when you went to unlock it. You paused for a moment when you realized that Loqi was standing outside with his bag over his shoulder and his shades on. And you couldn't help but to smile as you pushed the door open for him.

"Good morning." You said with a smile. "I didn't expect to see you this soon."

"You said it was better to be here in the morning." He replied with a nervous smile as he removed his sunglasses. "Am I too early?"

"Nope. Not at all. In fact, you'll be our first customer for today." You smiled back as you held the door open for him. "Which means you get the freshest cup of coffee that we can offer."

"Thanks. That sounds perfect.  I'll happily be the first then." Loqi said with a smile as he walked past you and into the restaurant.

You smiled as he walked in and took a seat at the booth by the kitchen. Then after you took his order of eggs, bacon, toast and black coffee, he pulled out his books again and was settled in for a quiet study session.

You left him alone for the most part as he quietly sat there studying. Even when you dropped off his food and refilled his coffee. Which he seemed to appreciate as he simply nodded at you after you quietly sat down the plates. Then as he opened his silverware, you refilled his coffee before walking away from him and over to another table to refill theirs.

You don't know why, but just having him in there seemed so familiar to you. Which made you curious as to why. You didn't remember seeing him or even meeting him before. But there was still that lingering feeling that you knew him from somewhere.

"Everything okay?" Brian asked as you slowly walked past him in a slight daze.

"Huh?" You asked as you looked at him in surprise.

"Are you okay? You seem out of it today?"  Brian replied as he gazed as you through the server window to the kitchen.

"Yeah...yeah. I'm fine " You replied and quickly headed for the kitchen to start some dishes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before you knew it, you were too busy to think about anything but work. Because as soon as the breakfast rush ended, you were practically thrown right into the lunch rush. To which all you could do was fly from one table to the next as you would take several orders. Then you would give those to Brian as you picked up the ones that you had already placed. Only to check on other customers after that and clean the tables that were left vacant.

But you didn't mind since it took your mind off of everything else. Which was a blessing in disguise for you, considering the thoughts of Ignis' missed call were still lingering in the back of your head. And you didn't want to go back to those thoughts again.

Of course being that busy is how you completely missed Loqi walking out of the restaurant. In fact you didn't even realize he was gone until you went to check on him to see if he wanted a refill on his coffee. But all you saw was an empty booth. You slightly sighed as you started to clear off the table. But then you saw that he had left a note and enough money to cover the bill.

Dear (y/n),

I would have liked to thank you personally for the perfect place to study. But you seemed to be extremely busy and I didn't want to interrupt. I do hope, however, that you wouldn't mind if I stopped by again later.

But until then, try not to work too hard. And I'm looking forward to seeing you again soon.

Sincerely,

Loqi

You slightly smiled as you took the note and folded it up carefully and placed it in your pocket. Somehow the through of him coming back seemed to brighten up your day. Which was something, considering your previous mood.

~~~~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I told you not to interfere with her." Came a grumbling voice through his helmet headset. "You are only to observe."

Loqi rolled his eyes as he rode his bike back to his high-rise apartment. "Like I mentioned before. I can observe better up close. Plus, if I'm able to gain her trust, she might be more willing to talk. Unlike when you had her kidnapped. You didn't get a single word out of her. Did you?"

The deep grumble on the other side of the phone made Loqi smirk. He knew that was the case. Especially since he had secretly watched the whole thing unfold on the security monitors as you were brought in and had escaped less than 24-hours later. And all while he had been hiding in the corner of the room as a means of escaping his ill-tempered step mother's rath.

"Fine. Do as you will." The voice replied. "Just don't interfere with her routine. We need to discover any weakness that they might have."

"How about I find out what those weakness are? Then I can tell you?" Loqi smuggling replied as he pulled up to red light.

He glanced over as a red convertible pulled up beside him. He caught the eye of the pure blonde driver. She narrowed her eyes at him as she looked him up and down. He smirked back as he did the same. She bit her bottom lip in return.

"Don't get too involved. You still have another mission there." The voice replied as the light turned green and the blonde started to drive away.

"Don't worry." Lori replied as he started after the car. "I think I can handle one little girl. Now if you'll pardon me. There's something I need to take care of before my late study session. I can't let my grades slip now can I?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE lunch rush went on like usual. Busy, but fun. You got to meet some of the regular customers. And they all seemed to be extremely excited to meet you. Apparently Brian had been bragging about you to them. Which was sweet and even made you blush more than once.

And everytime you brought it up to Brian, he simply smiled and kept right on working. He really did seem to be enjoying you being there for the entire weekend now. Which you were grateful for. Because you were really starting to like the early morning customers. They were a lot friendlier than the dinner diners. Even if they did stick around a bit longer and talk your ear off.

"Seems like you were a big hit with the lunch bunch." Brian said with a smile as he helped you wash up the last few dishes from lunch.

"That could be due to you bragging about me you know." You returned with a smile.

"Me? Brag?" Brian replied with an amused shock. "I don't have any idea what you mean."

You smiled as you shook your head. "Surrrrrre you don't."

"Anyway." Brian said as he handed you the last dish then proceeded to dry off his hands. "Go take your break before dinner starts. I can't have my best employee being too tired to work."

"I'm your only employee." You said back as he patted you on the back before walking away.

"Still counts." He said back as he continued to the walk-in coolers.

You couldn't help but to smile as you watched him walk away. He really was a great guy. No wonder why his wife and daughter adored him so much. You then slightly laughed as you pushed the last tray into the machine and started cleaning up the sink and counter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~0~~~~~~~~~~~~

You decided to sit down at the outside table by the back door in one of the two patio chairs. Brian had put those out there so that the two of you could enjoy a quiet break without being interrupted. Of course you think he did it more for the fact that he didn't want his wife to walk up and catch him smoking again. Even though you had a feeling that she already knew he was, just by the worried look that she gave you the other day.

You sat down after you placed your plate on the table and pulled out your laptop so that you could work on your English assignment for the week. It was only a simple paper about something you wanted to accomplish while attending his class. Which to you was an easy answer. You just wanted to learn how to improve your writing style, and perhaps increase your vocabulary a bit more.

You were quietly typing away in between bites of your sandwich that Brian had made for you, when you heard the distant sound of a motorcycle come pulling up. You didn't really think anything about it until you saw a black bike come rolling into the alleyway. You looked up and watched a guy wearing blue jeans and a black leather jacket bring his bike to a stop near the wall of the adjacent building. You sat back and watched him look over at you as he put down his kickstand and pulled off his helmet.

You sat there frozen as he shook his head to loosen back up his hair before running his hand through it a couple times to straightened it out again.

Holy shit is that sexy. You thought as you stared at him in awe.

"Hey." Loqi said with a big smile as his golden hair fell around his face.

"Hey." You smiled back at him as he hung his helmet on the back of his bike

"I was wondering what that table was for." He said with a smile as he swung his leg off the bike.

"Is this seat taken?" He asked as he walked over to you.

"No. Not at all." You shyly smiled back at him. "Please. Have a seat."

"I'm not interrupting your break or anything am I?" He asked as he grabbed the other chair and spun it around before he straddled it and sat down.

"Yes. But that's okay. I'm practically done anyway." You said as you closed your laptop and put your empty plate on your tray. "I'm sorry that I didn't get the chance to say goodbye earlier."

"Don't worry about it." He replied back with a smile as he sat forward and crossed his arms over the back of the chair. "It was actually quite impressive how well you handled all of those customers this morning. You must have been doing this for quite a while now."

"Well, to be honest. I've only been working here for a few months now." You said as you dropped your gaze as you tried to hide the heat rising up in your cheeks.

"Really?" He replied before he reached over and lifted up your chin with his fingers. "You could have fooled me."

You felt your breath leave you as he looked back at you with his dazzling smile. His green eyes seemed to blaze back at you as he searched yours.

"And it just proves how amazing you truly are." He said in a deeper voice.

You were slightly stunned as you watched his eyes get darker as he leaned more towards you.

"Fuck. I could eat you up right here." He continued in a deep tone.

You gasped at him as he slid his thumb across your bottom lip, sending streaks of electricity going straight to you belly. Then he quickly removed his hand. Your whole body was left frozen from his touch.

"I'm sorry. I just can't help myself when I'm around someone like you." He slowly said before he started to get up. "Perhaps I should let you enjoy your break. I'll see you inside."

You shook your head as you suddenly snapped out of shock. "Oh.....okay."

Then you watched him walk around the corner as he headed to the front door.

What the hell just happened? You thought as you tried to make sense of that.  Was I seriously almost swoon by him?

Fuck! You screamed in your head. What the hell is wrong with me?  I can't turn my back on Ignis again.  Especially with a  guy that I don't even know.

Then you angrily got up and put your stuff away. This is stupid. There's no way that I'm interested in him.  And I'm going to prove it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~~~~

After putting everything back into your bag, you walked back inside to start the dinner rush prep. But this time, you were determined to stay focused and not get distracted by Mr. blonde hair, green eyes. The only green eyes that you were falling for was currently unavailable. And that certainly didn't mean that you were going to go running to the next pair. No matter how enchanting they might be.

Once you put your stuff away, you found yourself back out on the floor, setting up the tables for dinner. You briefly glanced over and saw that Loqi was sitting in the booth by the kitchen again. But this time, he didn't have his books in front of himself. Instead he was busy looking at the menu as you approached.

"It's quite astonishing that this place has such a wide variety of dishes." Loqi said as you stopped by the table.

"Well, Brian is a very talented chef." You said as you slightly smiled at Loqi as you stood ready to take his order.

"He's not the only talented one working here." Loqi said as he glanced at you with heated eyes.

You shifted your feet and cleared your throat before you spoke again.

"Do you know what you want to eat...." You started to say, before you immediately wished that you had chosen a different phrase as you closed your eyes and started to get flustered.

Loqi gave you a slight smirk as he watched you slightly fidget.

"I mean....." You started to say before you steadied yourself and looked him back in the eye. "Are you ready to order?"

"Well, I've already told you what I wanted to eat." He said in a deep tone. "But I don't think the other diners would appreciate the floor show."

Your jaw dropped as you once again, froze in place. Holy shit. He was serious?

He then slightly smiled at your reaction, before he looked back at the menu. "So instead I think that I'll just go with a burger, with all the trimmings and fries if you could. Oh and a soda this time. I don't want to be up all night tonight."

You stood there stunned for a moment before it dawned on you that he had actually said his order.

"Oh....umm...you said a burger, with all the trimmings and fries." You said as you quickly started to write down his order before you looked back at him.

His deep green eyes seemed to take your breath away as he smiled at you. You just couldn't get over how he seemed to be really enjoying the fact that he could get you so flustered with just a few looks and words. Which did nothing but make it worse for you as you took a deep breath as you tried to regain your composure.

"And what kind of soda would you like?" You asked as you tried to calm back down, even though you could feel your heart slightly increase.

"Just a coke." He said in a deep voice as he narrowed his eyes at you again.

"Okay." You replied as you slowly straightened back up as you closed your notepad. "I'll go put in your order and bring back your drink."

Then you turned and started to walk away as steadily as you could.  Which was a feat, considering you were still slightly frazzled. Loqi followed you with his eyes as you disappeared behind the counter to place his order. Then he put away the menu and pulled out his phone. He opened up his last text message and started typing away.

You told Brian the order, then set about getting Loqi's drink ready. By time you walked back over to his table you were feeling a bit more in control as you sat down his drink and straw. He briefly paused from his texting and looked up at you. You nodded at him then went to take another table's order.

You didn't look back at him as you took care of a couple other tables before his order was ready. But even though you weren't looking at him, you could have sworn that he never took his eyes off of you. Which made you even more nervous as you brought over his plate. For which he didn't look up at you until you sat the plate down in front of him.

"Do you need anything else?" You asked as you stood there watching him put his phone face down on the table.

"I could use your company." He said with a slight smile. "But I suppose that that can wait for another day."

You dropped your head again as you felt your cheeks starting to heat up. What the hell? How is it he can make me blush so easily?

"But, no. Not right now." He returned in his usual tone as if nothing had happened a moment ago.

"Okay." You said as you shifted your feet as you slightly turned from him. "I'll check back with you later then."

As you walked away, you dropped your head and tried to shake off the fact that he could flip that easily to a normal tone. When you on the other hand, still struggled with gaining your whits about you again. But this was quickly pushed away as the usual dinner rush soon had you flying once again from table to table as you took care of each and every table. Which you were slightly grateful for.

Well, that was until you happen to glanced over and see Loqi cashing out with Brian as you were taking in yet another order. But as he glanced over and caught your eye, he actions told you that he wasn't upset. Because his slight smile and nod was all you needed from him to know that he was grateful for the meal. You couldn't help but to smile and nod back.

Then he turned back and talked to Brian before he turned towards the door and started to head out. You followed him with your eyes as he left the restaurant without another glance.  And even in the dark you could see his silhouette walk past the windows and towards the alleyway. Then after a moment, you heard the faint sound of his motorcycle, followed by him driving past the front door as he headed out.

"Pardon me? Miss?" You heard someone ask. "Our order?"

"Oh." You quickly said as you looked back at the table in front of you. "I'm sorry. What would you like tonight?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Are you sure that your okay? You've been awfully quiet tonight." Noctis asked over the phone as you laid in bed staring out your sliding glass door.

"I'm sorry." You quietly said. "I guess I just have a lot on my mind."

"Is it Ignis? Because I can always come over and hang out if your feeling lonely."

"That's sweet. But no. It's just school stuff." You lied as you tried to brush it off.

"Oh. Okay. You know I'm here for you. Right?"

"I know. And I appreciate it." You quietly replied. "'But perhaps I should just sleep it off.  Talk to you tomorrow?"

"Oh."  Noctis returned in a low tone.  "Alright. Umm.  Night princess."

"Night sweet prince."

~~~~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~~~~

THAT night you didn't sleep very. Because all you saw was blazing green eyes staring back at you before you felt soft lips against yours. It was so real in fact that you could have sworn that you felt a hand on your face as they kissed back harder. You deeply sighed as you started to fall deeper into the moment as the hand slowly slid down your neck and firmly grasped your breast.

The touch was overwhelming to you. You couldn't help but to moan from the sensation as they heavily kissed you and gently messaged your breast.  Then they pulled away, leaving you gasping for more. Oh the sweet taste and touch. And that spicy scent.

Spicy? Suddenly your eyes shot open as you quickly sat up.

You looked around your room. But you didn't see anyone. All you could see was that the sliding glass door was open and the night breeze was gently blowing the curtain further into the room. You looked around the room one more time as you slid your legs over the edge of your bed.

You didn't see anyone in your room. But you could swear that there was the distinct smell of a spicy cologne. But how, no one in your house wore anything like it. Suddenly you felt a chill as the curtains blew in again as a stronger gust blew in through the door.

I don't remember leaving that open. You thought as you stood up and walked over to the door.

You glanced out the door and into the front yard. But when you didn't see anyone or anything out of the ordinary, you closed your door. After locking it, you set your forehead against the door frame. You tried to calm down as your body tingling from the sensation of someone touching and kissing you. Never had you felt anything so powerful in a dream before.

Am I starting to loose it? You thought as you closed your eyes. I must be. There's no way that anyone was in here. I would have heard them. Right?

After checking the lock on the door one more time, you walked back over and slid back into bed. Only to spend half the night half asleep. And the other half staring around aayou room in a daze.

Could someone have climbed in through the balcony? The thought sent a chill down your spine and shook you to your very core.

~~~~~~~~~~~~0~~~~~~~~~~~~

As you opened the cafe the next day, you were slightly disappointed that there wasn't anyone standing outside this time. But as you dropped your head and walked away from the door you told yourself that you were being silly for being disappointed in not seeing Loqi again. He was just some guy from school. Which meant he didn't have anything to do with you except one class.

You angrily shook your head at yourself for getting caught up in some stranger from class. Then you went about the dining room and finished putting out the last few items as the first customers started to walk in.

He's nothing to me...... Just some guy from school....... And nothing more...... Or is there?.......

These thoughts kept running through your head as you worked that whole day and you didn't see hide or hair of Loqi. Which you should have been fine with. But you couldn't help but to think back on the encounters from the day before and the dream. Just what did it all mean?

You knew that it wasn't a vision like from before. It felt to real this time. Like someone had actually touched you. Were you really missing Ignis that much that you were reliving the last weekend with him?

That has to be it. You thought to yourself as you started on the last few dishes for the night. There's no way that anyone would ever get into my house. Not the way that my dad has it set up. There's just no way.

You then shook your head as you tried to rid your mind of those troubling thoughts.  Then you sighed as you finished up the dishes for the night before heading home.

******Author Note******

Ever have one of those dreams that just seems to be too real to be a dream? And I'm not talking about wet dreams. Those are totally different. And kind of messy.

No, these are the dreams that you swear that you were feeling someone's hands on you as you sleep. I had one of these dreams when I was overseas. Only it wasn't just their hands and lips. It was everything.

Unfortunately I woke up to find out that is wasn't a dream. But instead a real live nightmare. And one that I have had trouble with ever since that dreadful night. Even though it's been almost exactly twenty years since then. I just pray that no one else has fallen victim to that kind of situation, especially with him.

They say that PTSD doesn't just affect those in war. And I for one can attest to that. Because for 8 years after that night, I couldn't sleep unless I was safely on my ship. That was where I felt safe since I was surrounded by my fellow female sailors.

But at the time, I had no idea what was going on in my own head. It wasn't until I was sitting in my college Psychology class when I first heard about rape-related PTSD. And suddenly everything started to make sense. All of the symptoms and my reactions at that time were right on the money.

I had even talked to my professor about it once after class, and even she confirmed it for me. Ever since that talk with her, I finally understand. And that is how I was finally able to find ways of controlling it. And ever since then, my nights aren't quite as restless.

I apologize for getting a bit deep there for a moment. But I just had to get that one off of my chest. It had been eating away at me for quite some time. But now that that is done, let's get back to the story.

Because the day of the car wash has finally arrived. But will it end in a very bad way as Noctis once again pushes the envelope with you. Is it enough to end a lifelong friendship? We shall see?

Thanks for reading. :)

***********************