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𝐂 𝐇 𝐀 𝐏 𝐓 𝐄 𝐑 𝐅 𝐈 𝐕 𝐄

𝖻𝗋𝗈𝗎𝗀𝗁𝗍 𝗍𝗈 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖻𝗒:
𝗆𝖾 𝖼𝗁𝗈𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗌𝗅𝖾𝖾𝗉 𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗋 𝖾𝖽𝗂𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗋𝗇

𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞

𝐄𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐏𝐒𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 from the second she walked through the door. Not only was she late, but she brought back with a guy with her. The first red flag was that she wasn't profusely trying to shoo off of her like she normally did, which was suspicious in itself to the twins.

However, what they didn't know is how much the guy wouldn't get off her back. He was doing anything wrong technically, but his silent persistence was beginning to grow more and more irritating.

Maria and Ellie shared a look the moment they noticed him walking in behind her, better yet, following her around...

She'd move to talk to a guest; he'd be right there next to her.

She'd go to get a drink; he suddenly needed a drink too.

She wanted to go stand in a corner: he made sure to accompany her there.

The only reason they didn't take it into their own hands is because, while she was clearly dodging the guy, Eclipse didn't actually seem to have the intent to... hurt him yet. If it hadn't gotten to that level, he wasn't... too bad. At least not yet. For the time being, they watched from afar to make sure nothing happened and he didn't try anything. They thought that maybe the reason she hadn't done anything yet is that maybe it was her own way of reluctantly showing interest in someone.

Anthony on the other hand, watched intently the entire night. Whenever he was cleaning a table, his hand would move in circular motions as he wiped down the wood, but his eyes never left the pair. At the bar, his focus would be on the guy's every move. The way his footsteps quickly met her own as he caught up with her even strides—to get away from him—and the way he'd lean slightly in her direction whenever he tried to speak to her.

And when his hand grazed her shoulder to grab her attention, his eye visibly twitched, not even catching her whacking his hand off.

"Hey, Anthony. Can you hand me that glass, please?" Ellie called, his intense eyes falling back into their big innocent shape as she spoke to him.

When the words processed in his head, he grabbed the glass and quickly handed it to her.

In the short moment of time, merely seconds he had looked away, he looked up and she was gone. His head shot up attentively looking for the girl before spotting her red hair amongst the crowd that stuck out in the dull colors.

Much to his relief, the guy that had been following her miraculously disappeared. He didn't know where he went, but that was the last concern on his mind. He was just inwardly celebrating that he was gone.

Before he could come back, the fact itself motivating him to do so, Anthony made his way over to her. However, with each step, they grew slower the closer he got to the girl. His head began to scramble as his anxiety took control of his thoughts.

Why was he going over there? What the hell was he doing? What would he even say? What was there to even talk about? He hasn't even had a conversation with her since he got here...

He stopped mid-step, oh my primus, I haven't even spoken to her since I got here.

I'll just go sit next to her and start talking... that'll be fine.