Chapter 16

"You've been  out of the house." I whispered. I didn't think he would pick up on it.

"Hm?" He asked.

"Nothing, enjoy your walk." I said.

"Thank you, I'll be back in a little while." He said before walking out of the door.

I sighed before I went and sat down on the couch. Maybe he was still a bit upset about this morning and wanted some alone time, more alone time away from me. I thought that I'd see him a little more than I have since he's letting me stay, but he's been out of the house a lot. I just hope things change soon. One of the reasons that I came back here is because of him, I missed him.

He was one of the main reasons.

(Alastor's pov)

I suppose I could have waited until tomorrow or until later but I decided to go out now, to find my next victim. Of course, I won't be killing them now, not yet at least. I thought Y/n's job working with Mimzy would make things easy for me. She would be gone during the night, and so I would have no problem bringing them down to the basement. I wouldn't see her too much because of our different work schedules, but then I wouldn't have to worry about the bodies since she would be gone. But she wanted to work during the day like me. I suppose I won't be getting much sleep since I'll have to go out late at night now so that she doesn't find out.

I had half the mind to just make Caleb my next target.

But I wouldn't kill someone just because they're annoying me. And besides, then she wouldn't stop talking about him. She'd be grieving him and I'd have to hear it, No thank you. I was walking around and looking for a potential victim until I walked by a diner. A man rushed out of there, walking backward as he laughed and said goodbye to someone working there, bumping into me in the process. Almost falling, I felt my eye twitch. They turned around and of course, it had to be Caleb, it's almost like he wants me to kill him. He's giving me all these reasons to.

"Oh hey Al, what are you doing out?" He asked, didn't even bother to apologize.

He's got some nerve.

"Is that really any of your business?" I asked with a sneer.

"Don't act so grumpy." He said while walking next to me.

"Don't act so annoying." I said, he just scoffed as I raised a brow.

"Since when have I been annoying?" He asked as I chuckled.

"Oh-I'm sorry, you're being serious?" I asked as he crossed his arms and began muttering to himself, too quiet for me to hear.

"If you must know, I'm headed back home." I said in the hopes that he might just leave me alone.

"You should let me go with you, my visit with Y/n was cut short last time." He said. I was about to say no and deny his request before I thought about what I had told her.

"It's been years, he wants to see me too."

The words tugged at my mind and made me change my previous choice. As much as I disliked it, I knew it would make her happy.

"Fine, yes, you can come to see her. But do not touch a thing in my house." I said.

"I knew you'd come around." He said with a smirk.

We walked the rest of the way until he and I made it back to my home. The closer we got to the house, the more I regretted my decision. He's insufferable at work, so why in the world would I let him near me outside of it? Was I crazy? I kept thinking that and my mind kept bouncing back to the obvious reason, it was for Y/n. I'll suffer through his antics a little longer for Y/n.

"If not for him, then for me?"

Her words burned into my mind.

When we made it to the front door, I saw that she had left it unlocked for me. I turned the knob and let myself in along with Caleb. I stepped inside but she wasn't in a place I could see her, I assumed she was in her room.

"Y/NNNNN!" Caleb shouted, she immediately darted out of her room.

"Caleb?" She asked with a giddy smile on her face as she rushed down the stairs and gave him a hug. I stood behind him as she opened her eyes and gave me a smile, and then it was all worth it. Soon later, they broke the hug

"You don't have another tour around the house right?" He asked jokingly as she let out a small laugh.

"No, I don't. You have nothing to worry about." She said.

I guided them over to the couch as I made them both coffee, seeing as they wanted some. And of course, I wanted to be a good host. Even if it was for someone like him. When I came back, he told me he didn't want coffee anymore which made me annoyed. I wished he had said that earlier before I made it. But I just handed Y/n her coffee as I set the cup that was meant for him down on the counter. From the kitchen I could hear them chatting, though, it was inaudible from where I was standing. I walked back out as they began laughing before Y/n turned to me.

"Here, Al, have a seat." She said, patting the space next to her. As curious as I was to know what they had been and were talking about, I decided it would probably be best to stay in my bedroom until he left. I could get some work done in the process.

"I appreciate it, but I'm going to my room for now." I said, she almost pouted.

"But it'll be like old times, like back when we were at school." She said, trying to get me to stay.

"I'm sorry, darling. I have to get work done." I said before I walked off.

(Y/n's pov)

"Work, work, work. It's always work with him." I said, arms folded in my lap.

"And "Darling"? He's using nicknames-Wait are you two.." His words trailed off but I knew what he meant.

"Me and Al? No, no, no." I laughed a bit.

"We're just friends." I assured him.

"Good, 'cause then I'd be the only single one." He joked.

"So, I hear you work with Al down at the station? How are things there? Are you a host too?" I asked.

"Got a lot of questions, huh? I wanna hear about you though." He said.

"Aw, but I asked first." I said.

"Yeah, but you've been gone for such a long time." He said.

"How were things in Trenton?" He asked me.

"Things there were fun for a while, when I first got there I made some new friends and stuff. I mainly helped out with my parents bakery after school, after a little bit though, things just got dull. And if I'm being honest, coming back here was always on my mind since day one. So, I saved up enough money and finally came back here." I said.

"Yeah, after seven years." He said.

"And you know, If you didn't have somewhere to stay, you could have come and found me." He said with a small smile.

"Oh, well I found Alastor first." I joked, shrugging my shoulders as I closed my eyes.

"Well, it's not too late. You could always pack up your things and move in. Hell, you could move in by tonight." He said as he grabbed my wrist, he was suddenly so close to my face. I backed up to the edge of the couch and I took my arm out of his grasp, I couldn't tell if he was joking or not. Though, it didn't really seem like it.

"Just joking, of course." He said after he saw my reaction, he laughed it off as he changed the subject.

I'm not sure how much time had passed all I know is that it had been a while. I showed him out after making up some sort of excuse. I was still kind of thinking about what he said earlier. That and the way he was acting made it hard to brush off. After Caleb left, I went up to check on Alastor but the door was locked so I knocked on it.

"Alastor?" I asked, not knowing if he was going to answer. A few moments later I heard some things shuffle in the room before the door unlocked and opened.

"Is he gone now?" He asked.

"Yes, he's gone. Is that the reason you came up here? I thought you said you had to get work done." I said as he let out a nervous laugh.

"Yes, I-uh I did. It's done now." He said. He can be such a terrible liar at times.

"Sure it is, will you be coming out of your room now? I'd actually like to talk to you." I said, rubbing my arm.

"Well, we could talk in here if you'd like." He said.

"Are you sure?" I asked, last time I came into his room I got an earful. He didn't say anything. Instead, he smiled and opened the door farther. I stepped in as he walked behind me. He sat down on his bed as I sat down next to him.

"Actually, sorry it doesn't really matter." I said with a nervous smile and got up. He grabbed my hand as I flinched away. My heart dropped as he grabbed me, it felt like it was Caleb who grabbed me. Had he really made me that uncomfortable? That I flinched when Alastor grabbed me? He took his hand back, his smile replaced by a worried one.

"Talk to me." He said with his arms now folded in his lap. My eyes darted towards the door and he noticed.

"Y/n, please sit and talk to me." He said as I took a seat.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"It's kinda about Caleb, I tried brushing it off but I don't know." I said.

"Wait did something happen?" He asked.

"It's weird, he said he was joking but it didn't seem like it." I said.

"What happened?" He asked, scooting a bit closer to me.

"He grabbed my wrist and got really close to my face, started talking about how I should go move in with him." I said.

"Well, was  he joking?" He asked with a raised brow.

"He said that he was, yes. But I don't know, It gave me a weird feeling." I said.

"You don't have to see him, you know." He said.

"If you didn't, that just means more time spent with me and more time away from him. It would be better that way." He said with a smile. I scoffed and got up.

"Alastor, it's like you're in competition with him." I said as he looked up at me with confusion, still sitting on the bed.

"I'm trying to talk to you about something that upset me and you found a way to turn it into something about you." I said, I could tell he was getting nervous.

"Oh, Y/n I-"

"It's been like this since we were kids, Al." I said, my voice softening.

"I'm not a prize that one of you can just win. So please just stop competing, there is no prize." I said before leaving his room and going to mine.

It frustrated me how he wants these things to be about him, it's almost like he enjoys it when Caleb does something that's bad in comparison to him. He just finds a way to make himself seem better and I just don't get it, nor do I like it.

I wanted to talk to him, I needed  to talk to him and he just did it again.

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Hello! Still trying to get back to semi-normal uploads, though, it may be wonky for a little while. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as always.

Word count: 1980