~~~~~~~~~Your POV~~~~~~~~~

It didn't take long for me to reach Greasy's Diner, and once inside, I saw Xavier sitting at one of the booths. Once he saw me, he waved over with a smile, and I sat down at the booth. "Hey, sorry if I kept your waiting."

"Don't worry about it, I got here like five minutes ago."

Taking my bag off and placing it beside me, I noticed Bill was just like yesterday. There was a serious look on his face, almost like a glare, and I could feel his anger radiating off of him. I shook my shoulder a bit, and he tensed up at the feeling, looking up at me as I signaled him to stop.

I knew Xavier couldn't see him, but still.

The day was pretty normal, it was nice to catch up with an old friend. After eating, we went for a walk around town, and then stopped at the park. Before even realizing, it was already nighttime.

Wow, had the day really gone by that fast?

I stretched my arms above my head, letting out a sigh. "I should be heading home, but let's hang out again soon, we can bring our other friends next time."

"Or maybe.. we could try to be alone again?"

I looked over, and I grew pale when I saw he was WAY too close to me, almost about to kiss me! I quickly backed away. "Whoa, what the heck!"

He raised an eyebrow in confusion, and I let out a nervous chuckle. "Look, Xavier, you're a cool guy, but just not really my type. Sorry."

"Oh c'mon, just give me a chance." Again, he wrapped both arms around my waist, this time with a much tighter grip. "I promise it'll be fun~.."

I was already feeling really uncomfortable, how did this guy go from normal to really creepy?!

Struggling to pull back from him, I placed my arms against his chest to stop him from leaning any closer. "Seriously, stop! Or I'll- I'll call the cops and-!"

He pinned me against a wall, his face even closer than before, and I could feel every drop of blood in me growing as cold as ice from fear. That is, until he was suddenly dragged away by a really strong grip.

In the blink of an eye, Bill was holding Xavier against the wall, both of his arms in a tight, painful grip behind his back. Xavier glanced back, pain and anger shown in his face. "W-What the hell, man?!?"

"Don't you know it's bad to disrespect a lady? At least by her some flowers or something!"

The smile across Bill's face, one filled with shining fangs, was downright terrifying..

Xavier was clearly on the verge of fainting from fake, but I didn't feel sorry for him. I really thought of him as a friend, had he really changed that much? Or was he always like this, and I just didn't know?

Whatever, I should've been more careful..

"Let him go, Bill.."

He looked at me, his grin turning into a pout. "What?! I've barely even done anything!"

"I'm serious, let him go."

After a few seconds, he let out a growl and let Xavier fall to the ground, holding his arms. "Feel lucky I didn't make you Cerby's newest chew toy, now scram."

At the sudden demonic tone of Bill's voice, Xavier ran away, leaving the two of us standing alone in the empty street. I had a gripped on my arms, trying to calm myself down. Maybe he was just a creepy guy who just never grew up after high school, but..

What if he had more horrid intentions..

If Bill hadn't stopped it, would he have-..?

"Stop thinking like that.."

"Huh..?"

Bill's arms were crossed as he looked at me, it was the first time I saw genuine concern filling his facial features. "If you think of what would've happened, you'll only freak yourself out even more, just be grateful it didn't happen. Now let's take you home."

"... okay.."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He offered to teleport me, but I chose to walk with him on my shoulder once more. Once home, Mabel had already started bombarding me with questions, and I gave the briefest answers I could. I didn't want them to worry, so I just said we had a great time as friends.

Once in my room, I let myself fall on my bed with a heavy sigh. Even though some time had already passed, even though nothing bad had happened to me, I was still pretty shaken about it..

A small bark pulled me out of my thoughts, and I saw Cerby, all three of his heads staring up at me in worry. Even Snappy, who I thought hated me until this point.

I smiled at the sight, and he jumped onto my lap, Happy nuzzling my cheek, which earned a giggle out of me.

Bill hopped off my shoulder, growing to his normal size and landing on the ground. "You uh.. you feeling better..?"

"A little, I guess.."

Around a minute went by as the room was overcome by silence, and I kept my gaze on the pup, or pups?

However, I tensed up a little when Bill sat beside me, his arms opened as he looked away. I tilted my head. "What are you doing..?"

"I heard hugs are were created to make humans feel better.."

"Wow, this is what it takes for you to be nice..?"

"Hey, at least I'm trying, okay..?!" He shot me a small glare, and I couldn't hold in the small giggle that escaped my lips.

I scooted a bit closer, wrapping my arms around his torso and resting my head against his chest. "Thanks, Bill.."

He froze for a moment, and I could've sworn I saw a bit of pink on his cheeks when I glanced up. He then looked away, wrapping his arms around me. "Enjoy it while it lasts, this is the first and last hug you're getting from me.."

"Whatever you say, TopHat.."

"Nicknames are my thing..!"

"Not anymore.."

He puffed his cheeks with a huff, to which I laughed, and to my surprise, he smiled at the moment.

You know, as scary as he might've been at first, I'm really glad I got to meet him..

Thanks for reading!!! 'Till next time!!!

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