justprompts - You walk into the bar and he/she is standing there.

[didanexperiment]

"That girl at the bar-" Terrence began.

"Is way out of your league," interrupted Matt, one of Terrence's co-workers.

Terrence shot him a dirty look.

"Well she is! Smokin' hot body, perfect brown hair and I'm sure she has a fine ass too," Matt continued.

"She's a pretty girl, yes. But what I was going to say that I know her."

Matt looked at Terrence with disbelief. "Yeah right." He then turned towards his co-worker and asked, "Wait...did you know her before or after the whole...fang thing?"

A sigh was Terrence's first response. "After, actually. She's the scared girl I talked to after her jackass boyfriend left her in a dark alleyway." He looked up and noticed Melody was with two other ladies, probably friends of hers. He didn't want to make too much of a scene but hoped he could at least see how she was and perhaps apologize for scaring her boyfriend like he did. "I'm going to try to talk to her."

"Pfft, good luck," Matt retorted. Terrence then shot him another glare before heading towards the bar.

Melody was talking to one of her friends when Terrence approached her. He waited until she was finished her conversation and politely began, "Excuse me-"

The two ladies Melody was with began to snicker. Melody turned and saw Terrence standing her with a sheepish smile on his face. She wasn't sure what to say to him at first but replied, "Hi Terrence."

Her friends were a bit shocked that Melody knew this somewhat pale, messy haired stranger. "Listen I just...wanted to see if you were all right and say that-"

Melody hopped off her stool which caused Terrence to stop mid sentence. She motioned for him to follow her and once they were both outside the bar, she turned to him and said, "I just...didn't want them to...look, they know I was attacked but not all the details and I really-" She stopped for a moment and sighed. "They're not the types to understand. I told them there was a man that came to talk to me afterwards before Todd came back and they know that much."

Terrence nodded and nervously began, "I just...I mean, I probably was out of line when I pounced on Todd like that. I kinda...lost my temper just thinking what a jackass he was even if it really wasn't my place to, you know, do anything else."

She took in a breath before replying to him. "I...admit...you kinda scared me when you did that."

He glanced downwards and shuffled his feet.

"You can be awfully scary, Terrence."

Terrence bowed his head even lower. "I can't...exactly help it. I-I didn't want to be this...thing. But about three years ago, I was cornered and bitten and now-"

She gave him a sympathetic smile. "Your life has been turned upside down, hasn't it?"

Terrence looked back up at Melody and gave her a faint smile back. "Yeah, to say the least." He took a breath before continuing, "Anyway, I just wanted to say I was sorry for scaring both of you a-and just wanted to know if you were all right."

"Well, Todd probably deserved that. But I do accept your apology. And...I'm doing a bit better though I admit...I still have nightmares every now and then," Melody confessed.

"I'm sorry to hear that," he sincerely replied.

"Not your fault. I'm actually grateful you came to me when you did, even if I didn't trust you," she admitted.

"Given what you were attacked by, it's even more understandable that you wouldn't trust me."

"Can I...ask you something?" Melody cautiously asked.

"S-sure."

"Do you...I mean...have you ever...attacked someone? As in...taken someone's life?"

Terrence shook his head. "No, I've never taken anyone's life. As for attacking people...only in self defense or trying to rescue someone. And the occasional scaring someone, I guess. I don't get why there are others that get a thrill out of taking someone's life, honestly. And I hope I never do. But for now, I just try to hold onto whatever shred of conscience I have left."

Melody encouraged Terrence by saying, "Something tells me you'll be just fine."

"I hope so," he replied with another faint smile. "I really do. But what I really hope is that there's a cure for this whole transformation thing. I dunno if there is, but I'm going to try to find one. Can't hurt to try, right?"

"No, it can't. And I hope you find one."

"Thanks." He then glanced back at the bar and awkwardly added, "Your friends are probably going to wonder about you so...I'll, uh, let you get back to them. But take care of yourself, Melody, okay?"

"You too."

With that, Terrence began to head back inside.

But before he could reenter, Melody gently grabbed his shoulder. "Terrence, wait..."

Terrence was caught off guard and could only manage to let out a, "Hmm?" as he turned back towards her.

She reached into her pocketbook and pulled out a scrap of paper and a pen. After scribbling her name and phone number, she handed the paper to him. "Maybe...I could get to know you a little better as a friend?"

Well, friend is a start, at least. He smiled back at her and asked to borrow the pen. Then he scribbled his name and number on part of the paper and tore off that part an handed it to her. "I'd...like that. Hopefully Todd there won't be too upset if we-"

"Don't worry about him," Melody assured Terrence. "But, anyway, take care of yourself."

"You too, Melody."

This time, Terrence reentered the bar and made his way back to the table where Matt was waiting for him. He tried not to stare but glanced over as Melody made her back to her friends who all seemed really curious as to why she wanted to talk to Terrence.

Matt looked at his co-worker. "So, what happened?"

Terrence smirked. "I got her phone number, that's what." He wasn't going to admit Melody wanted to just be friends but he couldn't resist telling Matt he in fact got a phone number from the beautiful girl that was so 'out of his league.'

"You got a phone number from her," Matt grumbled. "For all you know, that could be a fake."

"Oh shaddup, you jealous bastard," Terrence growled.

There was a moment of silence before Matt admitted, "I am jealous."

Terrence smirked again. "I knew it."

Muse: Terrence Allenby
Fandom: Original Character
Word Count: 1,078