chapter one:
hello, you

Hello you, you're a new face. You walked in here with such force, with a mission. You clearly have no intention of speaking with others, your music is loud. You don't seem interested in the shelfs, no. You go straight for the back, you sit alone.

Bold of you, you're different. Special. I need to know who you are....

He's different, he drew me into this place the second I noticed the sign. This place is neat, organized and yet he's the only thing that catches my eyes, who is this man?

"Hello sir, do you need help finding anything?" his voice is soothing, it's like he knew I wanted to speak with him. Even with my music blasting, I can hear his angelic voice.

"Just waiting for a friend, apparently standing in line for coffee takes an hour. I just went to the closest shop that was near, figured I'd sit for a bit".

Joe smiled as he nodded his head "the coffee shop is new, the owner doesn't really know how to make half the drinks people order. So I'd avoid it".

Luke let out a sigh "that means my friend is gonna be there forever". He stood up with his eyes looking at the pin on Joe's shirt. "Well Joe, what's this place got to offer that's semi decent?".

Joe looked around for a moment, his eyes lingering along each shelf. "I happen to have a few selections I think you'd enjoy, any certain genres you wanna avoid?". Luke blinked his phone dinging "that's likely my friend, tell you what. You pick out whatever you think works, and I'll come back tomorrow afternoon to get them".

Joe nodded, going to speak again but Luke was already walking off. Goodbye you....

—

"His name is Joe and that's about all I got" his friend grinned as she sipped her coffee. "Was he at least hot, it's not often you speak so highly of people". They walked along the sidewalk and she appeared grossed out by the coffee she got.

"He was pretty hot, although It'd be weird if I just kept going back to see him, it's just one guy!". Although his tone appeared neutral and collected deep down within his heart, he knew it wasn't just one guy, it was the one.

All those years he'd searched and yearned for affection; it all led to this man, to Joe. "Well you're going back tomorrow, you better tell me all about it when we meet again next week! I want jaw dropping details, all of it!".

He smiled as he stopped in front of her apartment "this is your stop milady, hopefully your coffee was worth the horrendous amount of wait time".

She huffed as she unlocked her door "it sucked, next time I'll just make it myself, or we could drive down to Starbucks, thanks for hanging out Luke!".

He smiled and when she disappeared from his eyesight his smile wavered away. He walked off down the road, his apartment only being one more block over, he enjoyed just walking.

The sky was slowly darkening and he just walked, his eyes looking over every single person. They all walked with such glee, with such pep in their steps.

He found it annoying the way they'd skip about, like the world wasn't crashing around them. They'd take pictures and post it on social media. They'd said they went on a run today, when really they walked to their mailbox or down the sidewalk.

They weren't real, they were people behind masks, ones who claimed they were happy with themselves. He unlocked his apartment door and walked inside, it was silent, like usual.

He rubbed at his eyes as he put his coat and shoes away, times like this he felt like those pesky neighbors he had. It was utterly annoying.

He walked into his office, turning on his laptop he typed in Joe on Facebook. Nothing popped up. He tried Instagram again and nothing popped up.

This man clearly didn't want to be found, but Luke would find out eventually, he always did. A loud thud and scream entered the air making him slam his laptop shut harshly.

He walked towards his basement door unlocking it, another thud entered the atmosphere. He walked down the steps with a quick pace, he was annoyed.

"I told you to shut the fuck up! What is so hard about that!". The man let out a loud cry as he pushed himself into the wall.

Luke walked forward sighing deeply as he kneeled down in front of the wounded man. "What am I going to do about you? My neighbors won't be too pleased about the noise because they're hard workers. They need sleep and honestly you're getting rather loud".

"Please...". Luke gripped the man's cheeks roughly "what did I say, shut the fuck up!" Luke rolled his eyes as he stood up from the ground.

"I had high hopes you'd be different from the others Joseph, I mean I really thought you'd listen. I would've let you go if you didn't ruin everything!".

Joseph let out a heavy breath as Luke walked away disappearing for a moment before he appeared once more. "I managed to find someone new, I think it's finally time I get rid of my old fling, you really shouldn't have dumped me Joseph".

The gun went off and Joseph's body grew still blood seeping into his clothes and flesh. Luke sighed deeply as he looked at the body.

He had high hopes this would be the last body for a while. He didn't wanna add another person to his long list of victims.

Joe was different, he wouldn't be like the others he would be the one to not disappoint Luke. He'd see him again tomorrow and he'd mark his territory the second he could, Joe isn't going to fail like the others. He will succeed and win Luke's heart.

—

"Good morning Susan, how's that hip of yours going?" Luke put the last garbage bag into his trunk. The old woman smiled kindly at him "oh the doctor says it's getting better, John says he's lying".

Luke laughed lightly as he pushed a cigarette into his lips. "My mom had a bad hip once, now she's running around doing yoga and morning runs. Maybe you'll be able to do that again".

Susan smiled "I tried yoga once when I was around your age, didn't go too well, damn near broke my leg from accidentally hitting a wall".

Luke slammed his trunk closed as he blew out a cloud of smoke. "I'll see you later Susan, gotta drop off these old clothes to my friend".

"Stop on by soon, I can make those cookies you like, Johns always asking about you". He didn't smile and nodded as he got into his car.

Across the road Joe pushed his hat downward making sure his face was hidden from prying eyes.

You have a rather beautiful home, lovely neighbors who for some reason you enjoy speaking with. Susan doesn't get you like I do, she doesn't see you're miserable that you need me to save you.

And I will save you Luke...

not edited! (Likely never will be lol)
—
authors notes:
my entire Tik Tok fyp is you edits, so writing this was pretty entertaining. And to think I have another book about you to write for next, that'll be even more fun.